History of the Albany penitentiary.

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HISTORY

^Ibanp ^enitenttara).

DAVID DYER,

Chaplain.

ALBANY :
JOEL MUNSELL.

MDCCCLXVn.

^-€-^r-^^

/. r^ 7^~^

CONTENTS

PAGE.

Preface,.* v

Its Inception, 7

Its Erection, 20

Rules and Regulations, 32

Its Superintendent, 49

Resignation of the Superintendent, 65

Appointment of a New Superintendent; his Trials and
Resignation, 73

Recall of former Superintendent, 81

Renewed Financial Prosperity, 89

Return of the Superintendent to Reside at the Peniten-
tiary, 98

Embarrassing Events — - an Important Change — Aug-
mented Prosperity, 107

Enlargements and Improvements, 118

Commitments and Discharges, 134

Receipts and Expenditures, 142

Severance from Politics, 154

The Inspectors, 164

iv Contents.

PAGE.

The Physician, 177

The Chaplaincy, 182

Cases of Keformation, 199

Letters from Discharged Prisoners, 224

A View of its Present State, 239

Appendix, 269

PEEFACE

It has been well said, "whatever relates to the early
history of a locality or people, illustrating the manners,
the civil, religious or criminal policy thereof, is un-
doubtedly worthy of preservation. The records of
deeds and events, apparently of slight moment at the
time of their occurrence, increase in importance as
ages roll away, and are the indices by which we esti-
mate the truth of history. It is, therefore, needless to
dwell upon the necessity of recording events in their
day, lest the memory of them be destroyed by the
tooth of time, or they lapse into tales and traditions."

A conviction of the truth expressed in this quotation
has led to the preparation of the following history of
the Albany Penitentiary; an institution which has
attracted attention beyond the county and state in
which it exists, and indeed beyond the United States;
for persons belonging to different countries in Europe,
have either visited it, or sought for information
respecting its discipline and results. It seemed desira-
ble, therefore, that now, while the facts are fresh in
remembrance, or easily obtained, its history should be
put in an accessible and permanent form.

While the author has availed himself, in its prepara-
tion, of all the information he could obtain from persons
acquainted with its origin and advancement, and

vi Preface.

from its annual reports, he has been careful to weigh
the opinions expressed, and to make that record which
the facts and candor required. Some readers may
think that he has given a flattering aspect to the
history, but he can truly say that this has been the
farthest from his design; though he cannot disguise
the fact that its investigation has greatly enhanced his
estimate of the wisdom and ability of those who were
prominently engaged in the establishment and sub-
sequent government of the institution. To them the
public are very much more indebted than is generally
supposed.

It will be observed that the statistics given, date
from November, 1, 1848, the time when the building
was surrendered, by the commissioners appointed by
the legislature for its erection, to the joint authorities
of the city and county. This was unavoidable; for
though there had been received, from April, 1846, to
that time, eight hundred and thirty-one convicts, who,
as fast as cells could be constructed, were confined
therein, yet they were not engaged in remunerative
work, nor was the Penitentiary recognized as in exist-
ence. Then it went into operation with one hundred
and thirty-thi'ce prisoners under the oversight of
regularly appointed Inspectors. And from that time
it has exerted a wide spread and healthful influeiice.
May it always continue to do so.

ALBANY PENITEIS^TIARY.

ITS ESrCEPTIOlT.

The Albany Penitentiary originated in one of
those conscious wants which social evils not un-
frequently create, and which induce considerate
and well disposed men to unite their efforts for its
supply. Various causes had combined to augment
the commission of crime in the city and county
of Albany, and the expenses consequent on its
punishment. This, at length, induced the inquiry
among thoughtful and influential citizens ; what
can be done to lessen these evils ? and after much
thought and discussion, the following resolution
was adopted by the board of supervisors. May
10th, 1843:

'^Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed
by the chairman, whose duty it shall be during
the recess of this board, to make a complete and
detailed examination of all matters relating to the

8 Albany Penitentiary.

expenses of this county, in order to ascertain if any
reduction or reform can be devised consistent with
the due administration of justice, the protection of
property and the just compensation of its executive
officers; to the end that such measures may be
adopted as this board may deem necessary for a
more economical expenditure of the public money."

The committee, subsequently appointed, con-
sisted of the chairman, Messrs. Pruyn, "Whitbeck,
Van Schaack, Shaver, and Clark.

After "an intricate and laborious investigation"
that committee made a report to the board on the
15th of the following December, in which they
attributed nearly all the existing evils to the growth
of petty crime, vagrancy and pauperism. It was
stated that during the previous thirteen years,
the criminal expenses of the county had swollen
from about $8,000 to about $22,000 per annum ;
that the support of the poor had grown from about
$9,000 to more than $28,000 per annum; and that
while the population had not doubled in 28 years,
the number of commitments to the jail, in one-
half of that time, had quadrupled, with many
other facts calculated to cause just apprehensions
of the ultimate consequence of such a course of
things if suffered to proceed unarrested.

Albany Penitentiary. 9

Within a few hours after the presentation of
this report, the board of supervisors adopted a
resolution : " That the special committee appointed
last May, for the purpose of ascertaining the
causes of the increased expenses of this county
be continued, and it is hereby requested to mature
and present a plan for the retrenchment of pre-
sent expenses, and to report to the board at a ses-
sion to be held on the first Wednesday in February
next."

At the time appointed, on the 7th of February,
1844, the committee presented, by their chairman,
a most elaborate and judicious report. In it they
recommended that an immediate application be
made to the. legislature of the state, then in session,
for the enactment of a law rendering it imperative
on the supervisors cf the county of Albany, within
a given time, to commence the erection of a
Penitentiary within the limits of said county, on
a scale suited to its wants, and sufficient for its
prospective necessities; in which vagrants and
convicts might be confined at TmtcI labor, of a
suitable nature, and sufficient for its own support.
The Penitentiary to be built and constructed, so
far as is practicable, by the labor of convicts
themselves ; and in its erection, control and manage-

10 Albany Penitentiary.

ment to be under the concurrent jurisdiction of
the supervisors of the county, and the common
council of the city of Albany ?

They further recommended that "three commis-
sioners should be appointed, of competent ability,
to choose a proper site, and form a plan for the
construction of the prison ; and who shall prescribe
its discipline, management, classification, oversight,
labor, instruction, etc., having in view the following
requisitions :

First, That while the punishment inflicted shall
be adequate to the offense committed, it shall also
be such as will tend to effect the moral reformation
of the convict.

Second, That the labor performed in the prison
shall produce a sufficient income for its main-
tenance.

Third, That the occupation of the prisoners
shall be of such a nature as not to interfere with
the lawful avocation of any citizen, and such as
can give to the mechanics and citizens of our
community no just cause of complaint whatever.

Fourth, That such moral and religious instruc-
tion be provided as will be a powerful auxiliary
in producing amendment and reformation."

These extracts will show the earnest an(^ pro-

Albany Penitentiary. 11

tracted attention the committee must have given
to the subject, and the comprehensive, just, and
practical views they possessed.

This report was unanimously accepted by the
board of supervisors, and transmitted to the com-
mon council of the city, so that, if approved by
that body, measures might be immediately taken
to carry into full effect, the changes and plans
recommended.

The same day the common council considered
the subject, and unanimously resolved to "concur
in the views of the report of the committee of the
board of supervisors in relation to reform, as con-
nected with the administration of criminal justice,
and in the plans and charges proposed, and will give
their countenance and support to carry the same
into effect."

As this was a matter of great importance, the
common council determined, as a wise precaution,
to associate their law officer with the commission-
ers of the board of supervisors, in drafting a law
to be presented to the legislature for its sanction,
in accordance with the principles of the report.

It is highly gratifying to observe the unanimity
and cordiality that marked the proceedings, in
this matter, of these two public bodies. Not a

12 Albany Penitentiart.

voice was raised against it. They rose above
political prejudices and party distinctions, and
unitedly sought the accomplishment of this much
needed change. This indeed, seems to have been
the disposition of the whole community. The
committee said: "It enhsted the hearty good
wishes of all. Nor has the interest thus evinced
sprung entirely from selfish motives, but from the
higher principle of desiring to arrest the ruinous
tendency of the present state of things upon the
j)ublic morals."

The legislature passed the bill designed to perfect
this reform, April, 13th, 1844, and appointed com-
missioners to carry out its provisions. Those
commissioners were Samuel Pruyn, Lewis M.
Dayton, Barent P. Staats.

As the majority of the legislature, that year,
were politically opposed to a large majority in the
board of supervisors, and in the common council,
they chose to appoint commissioners in political
sympathy with themselves. This at first occasioned
unpleasant feeling, and might have had an injuri-
ous bearing on the future interests of the institution.
But, to the honor of the commissioners, it must
be said, that one of their first acts was to decide
that party politics should have no influence what-

Albany Penitentiary. 13

ever with either of them in the execution of their
duties; and to this resolution thej rigorously
adhered, until they delivered up their trust on the
completion of the work. They also frankly stated,
to the board of supervisors, that without their full
approbation and assent, they could not consent to
retain the office to which they had been appointed
by the legislature of the state.

This communication was made to the supervisors
May 17th, 1844, when they unanimously adopted
the resolution ; "That the board of supervisors of
the county of Albany, have the fullest confidence
in the commissioners appointed by the legislature
in the act of 13th April, 1844, in relation to the
erection of a Penitentiary in said county."

This was all they could desire. With satisfac-
tion, and the confidence of all concerned, they
entered on their work, which occupied the whole
summer of that year. Their report was made to
the board of supervisors, as required by law, on
the 19th of the ensuing December, and it does
honor to their industry, their faithfulness, and
practical ability. In it they spoke of the almost
insuperable diSiculties which obstructed their pro-
gress, the strong reasons which urged them for-
ward, the prisons they had visited and examined,

14 Albany Penitkxtiaet.

and the statistics which proved that there was as
great a necessity for a Penitentiary in this county,
at that time, as for a House of Correction in Bos-
ton, or a State Prison in Connecticut.

Their remarks respecting the two prevalent
systems of prison discipline in this country, are so
just, and have been so influential on the institu-
tion here, that they demand a permanent record.

"It is probably understood that a wide difi'er-
ence exists in the treatment of convicts, in the
difiiarcnt prisons examined by the commissioners,
and that the two most prominent modes of disci-
pline thus established, are distinguished by the
terms 'Pennsylvania system,' and 'Aul^im system;'
the former contemplates solitary confinement,
at labor, and exclusion fi'om the world, in its
strictest sense ; the latter, united labor, intercourse
without oral communication, and solitary confine-
ment only at night: there are minor points of
difference, but these it is believed are the chief
features which distinguish them from eacli other.
Each of these systems has its friends and advo-
cates, and at times sharjj discussions, as to their
respective merits, have ensued between them.

"The commissioners have taken this important
part of the subject into deep consideration, and

Albany Penitentiary. 15

have arrived at (what they consider to be) the
right conclusion : Every human being, no matter
how depraved, has natural as well as civil rights.
Whenever the rules on which the existence of the
social compact depends are violated, society is
justifiable in ejecting the transgressor from its
privileges, until such time as penitence and re-
tbrmation may reasonably be expected to ensue,
or as the nature and proper punishment of the
offense may require. Gross, repeated and incorri-
gible transgression renders it right and necessary
that the offender should be excluded from society
forever. Against such arrangements the culprit
cannot object — they are reasonable, they are
just — by his own acts he has either endangered
or destroyed the happiness of his neighbor; and
in consequence thereof, free communion with his
fellow man must to a certain degree, be restrained.
But it is not so with his inJierent rights ; over
these society possesses no power ; to control them
is usurpation. Such punishments as degrade
humanity, as cause severe physical suffering,
extinguish hope and produce despair; such as
render the better feelings callous, unhinge the
reason and sink the human nature to the level
of the brute, are alike incompatible with the

16 Albany Penitentiary.

natural rights of man, and with the laws of
God. The tendency of the Pennsylvania plan, it
has been alleged, is to produce some of these
effects, and, if it be true, then the system is un-
questionably wrong. But, be this as it may, the
great expense attending the Pennsylvania mode,
is such, as to render it (at least for the present),
impracticable in the county of Albany.

"The commissioners have, therefore, decided to
recommend the Auburn plan, frequently termed
'the silent system,' and to point out the Connecti-
cut state institution at Wethersfield, as the pattern
prison of that system — there, silence, order and
industry are covipletely exemplified — the neatness,
the cleanliness, pervading the whole establishment,
exceeds the most perfect specimen that the com-
missioners have ever witnessed even in private
life; while the discipline of the convicts would
perfectly satisfy the most rigid tactician.

" The financial management of this prison is of a
remarkable character — it has not only paid all its
expenses, but in seventeen years has accumulated
a surplus of $93,000; during this time, besides
the acquisition of property now on hand, appro-
priations made for building county jails throughout
the state, and donations for benevolent purposes.

Albany Penitentiary. 17

it has paid into the state treasury of Connecticut
upwards of $43,000 in money, thus constituting
it an important source of the revenues of that
commonwealth : and this is but the least of the
benefits it has conferred upon the state, its moral
influence has been equally salutary, second com-
mitments averaging but about five per cent, while
third commitments are not to be found upon its
records."

To this report the commissioners added, a few
days after, another which was supplementary, in
which they informed the supervisors that they had
selected a site for the Penitentiary containing
between ten and twelve acres of land, at a cost of
three thousand six hundred dollars; "which for
location, is all that could be desired, and having a
more commanding and beautiful position than
any other near the city." They gave also a de-
tailed plan for the building, an estimate of its
cost, and designated the number and character of
the officers who should be employed.

These reports were submitted, as required by
the law, to a joint meeting of the board of super-
visors, with the mayor and recorder of the city of
Albany. They took the following action thereon :

"At a joint meeting of the board of supervisors

18 Albany Penitentiary.

of the county of Albany, and the mayor and
recorder of the city of Albany, held as required
by the law authorizing the erection of a Peni-
tentiary in the said county, at the City Hall the
19th December, 1844, the mayor presiding and
the recorder acting as secretary, the foregoing
reports and statements were read and submitted,
when the following resolutions were adopted with-
out dissent :

^'■Resolved, That the reports now made by the
commissioners appointed for that purpose, as it
respects the location, plans and specifications for
the construction of a Penitentiary in the county
of Albany, be approved and adopted by this joint
meeting ; and that the said commissioners be and
they hereby are directed to procure the site of said
Penitentiary, and to proceed to construct the same,
according to said plans and specifications, pursuant
to the provisions of the act of the legMature of
the state of New York, passed April 13th, 1844.

"Resolved, That the sheriff of the county of
Albany be and hereby is, requested and directed
to order and compel all persons who are or shall
be, sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor in the
jail of said county, to work and labor in and upon
the building and construction of the aforesaid

Albany Penitentiaey. 19

Penitentiary, whenever the same is required of
him in writing by the aforesaid commissioners ;
and that the said sheriff shall use and employ all
proper means to prevent the escape of said persons
while employed at such work and labor, and pro-
vide for their proper sustenance; and for the
necessary expenses thereby incurred that he shall
be allowed a reasonable compensation by the board
of supervisors.

"Provision was also made in case any alter-
ation or extension of the plans should at any
time be deemed necessary by the commissioners,
for the public interests ; that then the mayor, the
chairman of the board, and the supervisor of the
second ward, all ex officio, should be a committee
to consider the same, and the decision of a majority
of the committee relative thereto should be taken
and considered as the act of the joint meeting
done at that time."

Thus harmoniously and effectually were all the
measures in this important enterprise adopted.

20 Albany Penitentiaet.

ITS ERECTIOI^.

The way having been thoroiighly prepared, the
commissioners proceeded to their work. But, not
being practically acquainted with prison keeping,
nor many of the details required in the erection of
such a building, and which only an experienced
man would understand and know how to secure ;
they determined, with characteristic wisdom, to
save themselves from mistakes, and the county
from useless expense, by securir.g, first of all, a
Superintendent who had proved himself a thorough
Prison Warden ; and who, by long and particular
attention, understood just what was necessary, and
how to avail himself, in the construction of a new
building, of the knowledge experience had sup-
plied.

Happily in this they were successful. Provi-
dence at that time had placed Amos Pilsbury, Esq.,
who for more than seventeen years had been the
successful Warden of the state prison in Wethers-
field, Connecticut, open to such a call. He was

Albany Penitentiary. 21

consequently most cordially invited to accept the
office. This invitation he accepted, and removed
to Albany, July, 1st, 1845 ; an event which glad-
dened the hearts, and strengthened the hands, of
the commissioners; and has proved of lasting
service to this community and state.

As the piece of land previously mentioned had
just before been bought, and the plans were drawn
for the building, the work was soon commenced.
The site, though remarkably fine, was yet very
broken ground; its surface quite uneven, and
much labor was required to make it fit for its
intended use. This labor was, however, easily and
cheaply secured. For it was determined, from the
first, that the work of erecting the Penitentiary
should, so far as practicable, be done by the con-
victs found in the county jail. They were, there-
fore, marched from that place to the Penitentiary
ground, a distance of near a mile, every morning,
and returned thither again at night. This .course
necessarily prolonged the time required for its
erection, but it saved expense to the county, and
exacted labor from those who, by crime, had made
themselves a public charge.

In November, of the same year, just as the
south wing, designed for male convicts, and com-

22 Albany Penitentiary.

prising ninety-six cells, was on the eve of completion,
the outer wall of fifty by one hundred feet, was
for the greater part blown down by a violent
tornado which then occurred.

During the preceding week, the Superintendent,
from a regard to the comfort and health of the
prisoners who were working inside, had the large
openings for windows temporally closed because
they suffered from wind and cold. Thus the wall
presented an unbroken front, and though it was
thought to be firmly supported inside, the violence
of the storm was so great as to level it with the
ground.

Notwithstanding, on the 17th of the ensuing
April, 1846, that wall was rebuilt, and the
wing so far completed as to be opened for
the reception of prisoners, and those then in the
jail were transferred thereto. Thus long before
the completion of the building, it was made to
serve the end designed. For just as fast as the
cells were finished, the convicts who had aided in
their construction became their tenants. Step by
step, as the building grew, it was inhabited, until
the whole was finished.

In June, 1847, the northern wing was so far
finished as to allow the admission of females, and

Albany Penitentiary. 23

on the first of November, 1848, the entire structure
was so far completed, that its history as a Peni-
tentiary then commenced; though eight hundred
and thirty-one convicts had been previously admit-
ted of whom one hundred and thirty-three then
remained. Then the commissioners regarded their
obligations as fulfilled, and they only waited for the
meeting of the proper authorities to surrender it,
and their public trust therein.

On the 26th of the following December, a joint
meeting of the board of supervisors of the county,
and the mayor and recorder of Albany was held,
when a committee previously appointed, at the
request of the commissioners submitted the follow-
ing report :

"The committee appointed by the joint meeting
of the board of supervisors of the county of Albany,
and the mayor and recorder of the city of Albany,
held 6th of July last, under the provisions of the
act of the legislature, passed 13th of April, 1844,
to examine the accounts and doings of the commis-
sioners named in said act, to construct a Penitentiary
in the county of Albany, respectfully beg leave to
report :

" That they have fully investigated the same,
and find that the county treasurer has paid, upon

24 Albany Penitentiary.

the order of the said commissioners, to the owners
and lessee of the land purchased for the site of the
Penitentiary, the sum of |3,212.72, and that the
title, deeds and release therefor to the county have
been duly executed and recorded in the county
clerk's office ; that an abstract of the title accom-
panies the same, and that the consideration money
named in the conveyance, for said land corresponds
with the sum paid for the same by the county
treasurer, upon the aforesaid drafts of the com-
missioners.

"Your committee also report, that the county
treasurer has paid to the commissioners, the further
sum of $35,350, for the building and construction
of the Penitentiary ; and that the commissioners
have exhibited an account (a copy of which is
hereto annexed) , stating how and in what manner
the same has been expended. They have also
furnished satisfactory vouchers, receipts and evi-
dences, to show that the aforesaid amount has
been appropriated for the construction of the
Penitentiary, and for no other purpose.

"Your committee therefore report, that the
commissioners have truly accounted for the money
received by them from the public treasury, as
aforesaid, and that the same has been by them

Albany Penitentiary. 25

properly and faithfully applied to the purchase of
the land, and to the erection and completion of the
county Penitentiary.

"• The examination of this matter was made at
the request of the commissioners, as communicated
in their report to the joint meeting, held 6th July
last. They have afforded every possible facility
and information, in regard to a thorough investiga-
tion; and your committee beg leave to express
their high gratification at the accuracy and
minuteness exhibited in the various accounts
necessarily involved in their transactions, and with
the faithful performance of the duties entrusted
to their charge.

"All of which is respectfully submitted.
John Taylor, Mayor,
Jno. Hurdis,
Adam Van Allen,
Stephen M. Hallenbeck,
Arch. A. Dunlop,

Committee.
"Albany, December 18, 1848.

"The final report of the commissioners (Messrs.
Samuel Pruyn, Barent P. Staats and Lewis M.
Dayton) was then read, approved and ordered
filed."

26 Albany Penitentiary.

" The recorder then submitted the following pre-
amble and resolutions which were unanimously
adopted :

"Whereas, The term of office of the commission-
ers appointed by an act of the legislature, passed
April, 13, 1844, for the construction of a Peni-
tentiary in the county of Albany, expires this day.
As appears from a report of said commissioners,
in which they state that they have completed the
duties imposed upon them by said act ; therefore :

'^Resolved, That the thanks of the members of
this joint meeting of the board of supervisors of
the city and county of Albany, and the mayor and
recorder of the city of Albany, be, and the same
are hereby unanimously tendered to the said com-
missioners, for the faithful, efficient and economical
manner in which they have discharged their
duties.

'^ Resolved, That we congratulate the commis-
sioners on the eminent success which has attended
their labors in the construction of the Penitentiary,
and we hereby express our high gratification at
the beneficial effects which have thus far attended
the practical operation of the Penitentiary system,
under their guidance and direction, and its great
superiority over that which heretofore prevailed

Albany Penitentiary. 27

in this county, and which it was intended to super-
cede. That we have entire confidence that its
further progress will continue to develop its
superiority over that system, in regard to its
reforming influence upon those who are subject to
punishment for crime, its restraining influence
upon others, and the much greater economy with
which it can be administered."

The following is a description of the Peniten-
tiary as it then appeared :

" This establishment is located near the junction
of Lydius street with the Delaware turnpike,
about half a mile distant, in a westerly direction,
from the Capitol. The lands belonging to it include
four entire squares, as laid down upon the map of
the city, and contain between ten and twelve acres.*
The buildings occupy a beautiful and commanding
elevation, facing eastward, and presenting an
imposing appearance. They comprise a centre
building, three stories high besides the basement,
fifty feet front and seventy-five in depth ; and two
wings, each one hundred feet long and fifty feet
wide, exclusive of the octagonal towers which
flank them. The interior of the south wing forms

] Four more acres have since been added.

28 Albany Penitentiary.

a spacious hall, ninety-eight feet long, forty-six feet
wide, and thirty-two feet high, in the centre of
which is a massive block of ninety-six cells, four
tiers in height, with staircases and surrounding
galleries. These cells are each in the inside, seven
feet by four, and seven feet high, supplied with
iron bedsteads and other necessary furniture.
Each cell has a separate and distinct ventilator.
The doors are made of round iron bars, which
when closed admit nearly as much air and light
as when open. The hall is also well ventilated,
spacious, Hght and airy. Besides these, there are
ten larger cells in the octagon towers ; making in
all one hundred and six cells. This wing is
appropriated exclusively to male convicts. In
the north wing, occupied by the females, is a
block of forty cells similar to those just described,
with eight larger ones in the towers, correspond-
ing with those in the southern octagons, making
a total of forty-eight cells. The remainder of this
wing is divided into work rooms for the women,
and for various other uses. The whole prison
contains one hundred and fifty-four cells, or dor-
mitories, of which about one hundred and forty-
four are used for ordinary purposes. The number,
however, can be increased from time to time as

Albany Penitentiary. 29

occasion may require. The front portion of the
central building is appropriated to the residence
of the Superintendent, his family and the subor-
dinate officers. On the first story, in the rear, are
the guard chamber, matron's room, etc., etc. In
the rear of the second story is the male hospital, a
fine apartment twenty-eight by thirty-two feet;
also a female hospital, and a dispensatory con-
nected with both. The third story is handsomely
fitted up as a chapel, thirty-six by forty-eight
feet, furnished with pulpit, and seats, in which
divine service is regularly held on each sabbath
day. The rear part of the basement is devoted
to the culinary operations of the prison, most of
which are performed by steam ; adjoining this is
the laundry and bake house. The whole esta-
blishment is warmed by hot air furnaces, and
furnished with a copious supply of good water;
and hot and cold water are distributed wherever
necessary.

"A brick wall, fourteen feet high, extending one
hundred and five feet beyond the wings, parallel
with the front, and running thence two hundred
feet to the rear, on each side, has been erected.
This wall surmounted by towers, or guard-houses,
at the angles, and a sentry walk at top, surrounds

30 Albany Penitentiary.

the whole prison yard, in the centre of which is a
range of work-shops for male convicts, one hun-
dred and fifty feet long by twenty-eight wide,
with cellars of the same size beneath, for the
prison stores.

"The dimensions of the prison, including the
walls and yard, are four hundred and sixty feet
front and rear, and two hundred and fifty feet
deep, covering an area of nearly three ax2re&. All
the buildings are constructed of brick and stone,
and are fire-proof The ground was purchased
at the very low price of |3,000. The cost of
the buildings, exclusive of convict labor, was
|35,000. Including interest on that part of
the money borrowed for the purpose, and all
other contingencies, the total cost is somewhat
upwards of $40,000, which by law is directed
to be raised in eight equal annual instalments.
Three of these instalments have been already
added to the county taxes and paid, without
enhancing the previous rate of taxation, for the
reason, that the former average annual amount of
criminal expenses were by this change of system,
sufficiently lessened to defray them; and it is
believed that this effect will continue until the
whole is paid. The undertaking therefore adds

Albany Penitentiary. 31

notMng to the public burden; on the contrary
it must result in pecuniary gain, for the county
acquires this valuable property (which will al-
ways be worth its cost), entirely from the savings
made on the former system." — MJu/nselVs Annals of
Albany, vol. i, p. 150.

32 Albadtt Penitentiaet.

RULES AND EEaULATIONS.

The following rules and regulations for the
government and discipline of the Penitentiary
were adopted by the board of supervisors of the
county of Albany, and the mayor and recorder of
the city of Albany, in joint meeting assembled on
the 26 th day of December, 1848. His honor, the
mayor, John Taylor, in the chair; and the re-
corder, Deodatus Wright, secretary.

The Principal Keeper, or Superintendent of the
Penitentiary, shall have the entire control and
management of all its concerns, subject to the
authority established by law and the rules and
regulations adopted for its government. It shall
be his duty to obey, and carry out, all written
orders and instructions that he shall from, time to
time receive from the proper authorities, and he
shall be held responsible for the manner in which
the said Penitentiary is managed and conducted.
He shall reside at the Penitentiary and examine
daily into the state thereof, visit every apartment,
and see every prisoner confined therein, as often

Albany Penitentiary. 33

as good order and necessity may require. Pie
shall exercise a general supervision and direction,
in regard to the discipline and police of the
prison and to the business concerns thereof, shall
make all purchases for the support of the prisoners
and proper management of the institution, and
shall superintend all the business carried on, and
labor done, in and upon the buildings or land
belonging to or connected with the institution.

It shall be the duty of the Superintendent to
select and employ one person who shall be styled
Deputy Keeper, who shall be his principal assist-
ant, and in the absence of the Superintendent,
clothed with, and exercise all his powers, so far as
relates to the discipline of the Penitentiary and
the safe keeping of the prisoners. He shall also
nominate (to be approved of, or appointed by the
board of inspectors), one Overseer, or Assistant
Keeper, to each branch of business carried on, and
such number of persons for watchmen or guards as
may be necessary for the safe keeping of and for
guarding the Penitentiary, to hold their respective
places during the pleasure of the Superintendent.
Such assistants and guards shall be under the
government of the Superintendent, and subject to
his orders, who shall oversee and direct them

34 Albant Penitentiaet.

in their several duties, and shall make such
rules for their government, and for the govern-
ment of spectators and others who may be admitted
within the prison or yards, or who may be found
lurking or loitering without, upon the lands be-
longing to the establishment, as circumstances may
require ; provided they are not incompatible with
the laws of the state, or the rules and regulations
adopted for the general goTemment of the Peni-
tentiary.

It shall also be the duty of the Superintendent
to cause the books of the Penitentiary to be so
kept, a.s clearly to exhibit the state of the
prisoners, the number received and discharged,
the number employed ia grading and cultivating
the land and other out door work, and the num-
ber employed in each branch of business carried
on, with their earnings, together with the expendi-
tures of each branch or department; and he shall
make out a quarterly cash account, in which he
shall specify, minutely, the persons to whom, or
from whom, moneys have been paid or received.
and for what purpose, with an abstract of vouchers
for all expenditures, which with the vouchers, he
shall prepare and lay before the Inspectors, for
them to examine and audit at their quarterlv

Albany Pe^titextiaey. 35

meeting at the end of every three months at the
Penitentiarj- . And the Superintendent may, and
he is hereby authorized to, draw on the county
treasiirer from time to time for such sums as
may be necessary to defray the expenses of the
institution and for its necessary maintenance
and repairs; said drafts to be approved of and
countersigned by the Inspectors, or by a majority
of them; and the county treasurer is hereby
authorized and directed to pay such drafts, so
countersigned, whenever the same are presented.
He shall close his accounts and books of the Peni-
tentiary, and balance the same on the last day of
October in each year, and render a report exhibit-
ing a comprehensive view of all the transactions
of the Penitentiary during the preceding jear.
showing the amount of labor performed, and the
earnings and expenditures of each branch of labor
at which the prisoners may have been employed,
together with the profit, or loss, accruing or resul1>
ing from the same.

He wlU also see that the prisoners are treated
with hmnanity, that the sick and complaining
have proper medical and other attendance, and
that they are supplied with such food and medi-
cine as may be prescribed and necessary.

36 Albany Penitent: art.

All prisoners received by the Principal Keeper,
or Superintendent of tlie Penitentiary, shall be
safely kept for the term for which they may be
sentenced to confinement, and shall be employed
in the grading, cultivation, and proper manage-
ment of the land belonging to the institution, or
at any other work which the Inspectors shall
direct for the proper maintenance and best inte-
rests of the establishment.

The clothing of the prisoners, on their reception
into the Penitentiary, shall be taken from them,
and (if worth preserving), restored to them on
their discharge. On their entrance into the esta-
blishment they are to be thoroughly cleansed, and
clothed in the prison dress, which will be, for
males, a jacket, vest and pantaloons made of
coarse cloth, with a cap of the same material ;
they are also to have woolen socks, with coarse
leather shoes; their shirts shall be made from
stout cotton, cloth and changed once a week. For
females, a checked linsey frock and skirt, cotton
check apron and neckerchief, shoes and stockings
and the usual under clothes. Each prisoner shall
have an iron-frame bedstead with iron sacking
bottom, straw mattress and pillow (and in winter
one comforter), and two blankets, one night bucket.

Albany Penitentiary. 37

one water can and one spoon, knife and fork.
The corridors of the prison shall be suflBciently
warmed in cold weather with proper fires. Each
prisoner on his or her discharge (if they have no
clothes to be returned to them) shall at the discre-
tion of the Superintendent, be furnished with. a
cheap laborer's dress, and with a sum of money,
not exceeding one dollar, to enable him or her to
find work for his or her support.

The prisoners, after receiving their rations, shall
eat in their cells and observe such rules, in
relation thereto, as shall be directed by the Super-
intendent.

The rations or daily subsistence of the prisoners
shall consist of one pound of salt or corned beef,
four days ; three-fourths of a pound of salt pork,
or three-fourths of a pound of salt fish, one day ;
and one pound of fresh meat, made into soup, two
days, in each week. One pound of bread made of
good wheat middlings, for breakfast and dinner
each day, and one-third of a pound of corn meal
made into mush, with half a gill of molasses, for
supper; there shall be- four bushels of potatoes,
carrots or turnips, for every one hundred rations,
and a sufficient quantity of salt, pepper and vine-
gar, with such alterations from time to time, as

38 Albany Penitentiary.

may be deemed necessary and approved of by the
Inspectors.

The prisoners shall be required to labor diligently
the whole time they shall be out of their cells,
and in going to and from their cells they shall
observe such order as may be directed by the
Superintendent ; they shall be required to commu-
nicate with their keepers in a respectful manner,
and with the greatest brevity; they are not to
converse with each other, or to be allowed to hold
intercourse with any person not belonging to the
institution, unless by permission and in the
presence of the Superintendent or his Deputy;
they must conduct themselves with perfect order,
and in strict compliance with the directions of
their officers. Silence, order and regularity must
reign; they must be industrious, submissive,
obedient, and labor diligently in silence. In their
cells they must also be silent, speaking to no per-
son except in the event of sickness, in which case
they can make it known to the officer on duty.
The officers are not to treat the prisoners with
harshness or anger, but while a spirit of mildness
is to prevail, they are nevertheless expected to be
firm and consistent in the discharge of their
duties.

Albany Penitentiart. 39

Each prisoner shall have a Bible and Hymn-
book in his cell, and such other books, or tracts,
as may be furnished for their use, and they will
be required to attend service in the chapel every
sabbath, and also such other religious and moral
instruction as may be provided for them ; at all
other times during that day they shall remain in
their cells.

The Chaplain to the Penitentiary shall have
the privilege, and it shall be his duty to visit at
any and at all times the male prisoners when in
their cells, or in the hospital, to instruct and teach
those that can not read, and to administer to all
such advice, instruction and consolation as he
may deem best calculated to promote their reform-
ation; and at all proper times he shall endeavor
to press upon their minds the justice of their
punishment, and the necessity of a strict compli-
ance, on their part, with the rules of the
establishment.

He shall attend and perform such service in the
chapel on every sabbath day, at such hour or
hours as shall be designated by the Superintend-
ent, with the prisoners, male and female, who shall
be assembled for that purpose.

He shall not furnish the prisoners with any

40 Albany Penitentiary.

information or intelligence in relation to secular
matters, except by permission of the Superintend-
ent ; nor shall he have any other intercourse with
the prisoners, than such as shall be necessary and
proper in teaching them to read, and imparting
such moral and religious instruction as shall be
best calculated to promote their subordination,
reformation and spiritual welfare : nevertheless,
he shall endeavor to learn, in visiting the prisoners
in their cells, so much of their past history and
present views and feelings, as will enable him to
adapt his instructions and reproofs directly to
their individual cases and circumstances. He will
keep in mind, that by visiting the prisoners in the
solitude of their cells, by personally teaching the
illiterate, and by explaining to all individually,
their moral and religious duties and obligations,
he will confer upon them benefits far greater than
any which can alone be received by them, from his
labors and services while they are congregated for
the customary public worship on the sabbath.

He shall not receive from, or confer any present
upon the prisoners ; nor shall he have any deal-
ings with them, nor shall he take to them or
convey from them, any letters from or to their
friends, or others ; nor write or otherwise become

Albany Penitentiary. 41

the medium of communication between them and
their friends, or others, without the consent and
approbation of the Superintendent.

He shall in all cases conform to the general
rules and regulations adopted for the government
of the Penitentiary; and it shall be his duty,
annually, to render a report to the Inspectors of
his proceedings for the year, with such remarks
and suggestions in relation to the intellectual,
moral, and religious condition of the prisoners, as
he may deem important or necessary. Sectarian
preferences in matters of religious belief are dis-
claimed. If any prisoner desires communication
with the minister or instructor of his particular
faith, on proper application to the Superintend-
ent, and at his discretion, it shall be allowed,
under and in conformity with the general regula-
tions of the Penitentiary. But such minister, or
instructor, on such occasions, must in all things
conform to the rules and restrictions laid down
and enacted, as the duty of the Chaplain; any
infringement, or departure from which, will debar
him from future intercourse with the prisoners.

The Physician shall visit the Penitentiary at
least every other day, and personally examine
every sick and complaining prisoner that may be

42 Albany Penitentiary.

reported to him as such, or whom he may find in
the cells or hospital; and shall prescribe such
medical treatment as their cases require. He
shall also visit the Institution daily, or oftener,
when the condition of the sick require it; and
when sent for, shall at all times repair immedi-
ately to the Penitentiary.

He shall also keep a book, to be called the
Hospital Register, in which shall be entered the
names of all the prisoners sick or complaining,
requiring medical treatment, with their disease and
his prescription therefor. When a prisoner dies,
he shall record the nature of the complaint and
all the circumstances connected therewith that he
may deem proper or necessary.

He shall in all cases direct the diet to be pre-
pared for the sick, and if it should so happen
that the direction or prescription of the Physician
should not be properly attended to, he shall report
the same to the Superintendent, that proper mea-
sures may be taken to prevent future neglect or
inattention.

He shall at the close of each year make out
and furnish to the Board of Inspectors a report,
or statement, showing the amount and nature of
the sickness which has prevailed, and the deaths

Albany Penitentiaet. 43

that have occurred during the year, with such re-
marks in relation to the condition and treatment
of the sick, as he may deem necessary or expedi-
ent. He shall conform to the general rules and
regulations of the Penitentiary.

There shall be employed by the Superintendent
a Matron and one Assistant Matron, to the fe-
male department, who shall reside at the Peni-
tentiary, and attend to the labor and conduct of
all the female prisoners. All the rules and regu-
lations required to be observed and enforced by
the subordinate ofl&cers having charge of the male
prisoners, as are applicable to the females, shall
be enforced by the Matrons under and by direc-
tion of the Superintendent.

The Matron shall personally superintend the
cooking, washing and ironing of the whole esta-
blishment; also the weighing and measuring of
the rations for the day, as established by the rules
and regulations. And it shall be her duty to
attend to the division of the daily food into
rations, and to see that it is ready and in proper
order to be served to the prisoners at regular meal
time.

The Matrons shall cause the cells, kitchen,
workrooms, and every part of the establishment

44 Albany Penitentiary.

under their care, to exhibit perfect neatness and
order ; and at all times to be ready for the inspec-
tion of the Superintendent, Inspectors, and others
who may visit the Institution.

It shall also be the duty of the Matrons to en-
deavor to teach those who are unable to read, and
to administer such moral and religious advice and
instruction to them, as shall be calcula,ted to
promote order, decorum, propriety of behaviour,
and reformation. They shall assemble the female
prisoners in the chapel every Sabbath day for
divine service and other religious instructions, and
it shall be the duty of the Matron to see that
every prisoner under her care is furnished with a
Bible and Hymn-book, and such other books or
tracts as may be furnished by the Chaplain or
Superintendent.

For any violation of the rules of the prison by
the female prisoners, the Matron shall confine
them in their cells, and report the offense to the
Superintendent, that he may give her such in-
structions in regard to punishment or correction,
as the nature thereof may require.

The Matron and Assistant Matron, shall each
keep a book, containing the names of all the fe-
males under their charge, with a table showing

Albany Penitentiary. 45

every day's labor performed, and also the articles
made and work done for the Penitentiary or for
others, which book shall be deposited in the Su-
perintendent's office at the end of every month.

The Superintendent is authorized to employ and
permit the use of weapons by the keepers or
guards of the prisoners, to put down insurrection
by force, and to prevent escapes at all liazards
from the Penitentiary.

The object of this Institution being to effect the
moral reformation of the culprit, punishment will
be resorted to as rarely as necessity will admit;
the rules of the Prison are nevertheless to be pre-
served and maintained inviolate, and all infractions
thereof or any resistance to the lawful commands
and authority of the keepers, shall subject the
offender to solitary confinement in a darkened
cell, and to rations of bread and water (or to be
showered with cold water), at the discretion of
the Superintendent; no such confinement, how-
ever, shall exceed ten days for any one offense,
and in every doubtful case the proper medical
authority shall be consulted.

Three Inspectors shall be appointed by the
board of supervisors, and the mayor and recorder,
in joint meeting now assembled according to law.

46 Albany Penitentiary.

who shall have the supervision of the Penitentiary;
one of whom shall hold his office for one year, one
for two years, and one for three years, from
the first day of M%,rch next as shall be designated;
and hereafter there shall be annually appointed,
in the same manner, one Inspector who shall hold
his office for three years from the first day of
March then next ensuing. Said Inspectors, now
first appointed, shall enter upon the duties of their
office immediately.

It shall be the duty of the Inspectors to visit
the Penitentiary jointly at least four times in each
year, to examine and audit the accounts of the
Superintendent, to inquire into all matters con-
nected with the government, discipline and police
of the prison, the punishment and employments
of the prisoners, and to make such rules and
regulations as they may deem expedient and ne-
cessary, provided, however, that such rules and
regulations shall not conflict with the laws of the
state, or with the general rules and regulations
now adopted by this joint meeting.

It shall be the duty of the Inspectors individu-
ally, to visit the Penitentiary once in each month,
or oftener, as they deem necessary ; to diligently
examine and inquire into the condition of the

Albany Penitentiary. 47

prison and prisoners; each Inspector shall keep
a journal of his visits and proceedings, and shall
report the same to the Inspectors at their next
joint quarterly meeting.

The Inspectors shall approve of, or appoint, on
the nomination of the Superintendent, all the sub-
ordinate officers employed at the Penitentiary,
and shall fix their compensation. They shall also
appoint a Physician and Chaplain, and prescribe
their payment, who shall hold their offices during
the pleasure of the Inspectors.

The Inspectors shall annually, on or before the
first day of December, render a report to the
board of supervisors and mayor and recorder, in
joint meeting assembled, showing the state and
condition of the Penitentiary, and the prisoners
confined therein, the amount of money drawn
from the treasury and otherwise received and ex-
pended ; together with all the transactions of the
Penitentiary during the year preceding. The
Inspectors may also communicate, in the same
manner, with the authorities aforesaid, at any
other time and on any subject connected with the
Penitentiary, whenever they deem it to be ne-
cessary.

In case of the death, resignation or refusal to

48 Albany Penitentiary.

serve, of any one or two, of the Inspectors appointed,
the remaining one or two Inspectors, as the case
may be, shall have the power to fill the vacancy
or vacancies so occasioned, and designate the
term for which he is or they are to serve ; which
appointment or appointments shall remain valid
until the joint authorities direct otherwise.

The Inspectors shall receive no pecuniary com-
pensation for their services whatever. It shall be
an office of honor.

Albany Penitentiary. 49

ITS SDTERIFTEKDENT.

While it will be demanded by the public, it
is but simple justice to the Superintendent of
the Penitentiary that an account should be given
of his labors in this department of public ser-
vice ; for more than any man in this country
he has devoted himself to prison discipline ; has
been engaged therein for a longer period, and
his efforts have been attended with unrivaled
success.

Amos Pilsbury^ is the son of honored parents.
He was bom in Londonderry, N. H., February
8th, 1805. His father, Moses Cross Pilsbury, was
a native of Newbury, Mass. His mother, Lois
Cleaveland, was a granddaughter of the Rev.
John Cleaveland, of Ipswich, a clergyman of dis-
tinguished piety and patriotism, who served his
country as chaplain, in two campaigns of the

iThis sketcli is principally taken from one written by a dis-
tinguished gentleman of New York city, who is familiar with
the history of the family, and knew its subject from early
manhood.

50 Albany Penitentiary.

French war, and in three campaigns of the revo-
lutionary struggle. His grandfather, on the other
side, was one of the "happy few" who fought at
Lexington and on Bunker's Hill.

Mr. Pilsbury's father was no common man.
From the age of ten to that of twenty-one, he
hammered iron in his father's shop. Freed, at
length, from this hard apprenticeship, he soon
worked his way to a position of comfort and of
high respectability. So carefully did he seek and
so well did he employ every opportunity of self-
culture, that at the beginning of our second con-
test with England, he was commissioned as a
lieutenant in the United States army — in which
capacity, and also as adjutant, he served through
the war.

Not long after this, through the influence of
his neighbor and friend, Governor Bell, he was
appointed Warden of the New Hampshire state
prison. Here his peculiar talents at once shone
forth. Like all the prisons of that day, it was,
when he took it, an ill-contrived, badly managed
and expensive establishment. Under the new
keeper, irregularity, idleness, and waste, were
replaced by discipline, industry and thrift until
the prison, with its orderly and busy inmates.

Albany Penitentiary. 51

became the wonder and boast of the state ; pre-
senting, it is believed, the first instance recorded
in penal annals, of convicts who supported them-
selves. Nor was this all. Under the perfect
system introduced by Capt. Pilsbury, the prison,
after paying all expenses, had a handsome surplus
for the state treasury. This important result was
attributable to no additional rigor, and to no
severity of exaction. In its moral and reforma-
tory aspect, the improvement was equally marked,
and infinitely more important. To his honor be
it said, he was the first prison keeper who intro-
duced the practice of reading the Bible daily to
the prisoners assembled. He was a man of me-
dium stature, calm and gentle in aspect and
demeanor, full of tenderness and Christian sym-
pathy. His mere look was sufiicient to quell the
fiercest of those hardened creatures with whom
he had to deal. All who were placed under him
knew full well that they must obey; and very
few were those who did not obey willingly. He
deserves an honorable place among the benefactors
of his race. His last days were spent on his farm
in Derry, N. H., where he died at the age of seventy
in the year 1848.

Amos Pilsbury after having served an appren-

52 Albany Penitentiary.

ticeship at the tanning and leather dressing
business, was, at the age of nineteen years, made
one of the guards in the Concord prison, and in
this subordinate capacity, so approved himself to
the state authorities, that a year after he was
appointed Deputy Warden. In 1827, he went
with his father to Wethersfield, to assume the
same position in the prison there. In 1830, he
was advanced to the sole superintendence of that
large and important establishment. It was a
high responsibility for a young man of twenty-five
years. All doubts — if doubts there were — on
account of his youth, were soon dispelled. The
very first year of his administration proved his
eminent fitness for the post. As a disciplinarian,
as a manager, as an economist, as a man of
integrity, and humanity, and honor, he fell not a
whit behind his father.

For fifteen years, some nine months excepted,
Mr. Pilsbury held this office, with a fidelity that
was never surpassed, and a success, of which there
had been in prison management, no previous
example. During the second year of his superin-
tendence, the earnings of the prison, over and
above its entire expenditures, amounted to more
than eight thousand seven hundred dollars. To

Albany Penitentiary. 53

a frugal community, like that of Connecticut, this
result must have been particularly gratifying.
But Connecticut, we trust, would never have
welcomed even this advantage, had it come to
her through any sacrifice of morals or humanity.

The condition of the state purse was not more
benefited, than was, in every particular, the con-
dition of the prisoner. Indeed, a bright, busy
New England town and a village of Neapolitan
lazzaroni, scarcely differ more in appearance, in
character, or in results, than a Penitentiary under
the Pilsbury regime differed from the prisons
generally in use before.

During the seventeen years which preceded the
changes, while Connecticut was compelling her
prisoners to work in irons by day, and sending
them down manacled and fettered, to pass the
night on damp straw sixty feet below the surface,
the Newgate prison cost the state a hundred and
twenty-five thousand dollars beyond all its earn-
ings. The Pilsbury administration — at once
efficient and humane — lasted seventeen years,
during which the huge establishment was made
to sustain itself handsomely, and also to pay into
the state treasury the sum of ninety-three thou-
sand dollars. Any tyro in arithmetic will readily

54 Albany Penitentiakt.

estimate the amount which was saved to the
commonwealth .

The profits which Mr. Pilsbury conferred on
Connecticut, were not limited to the prison under
his immediate control. Through his suggestion
and aid, the old and miserable county jails were
replaced by new and well arranged structures,
where industry and order could and did supplant
idleness and vice. * In this reform, Hartford county
led the way, and other counties followed — their
benevolence being greatly stimulated by a bonus
of $1,000, which the surplus earnings of the Weth-
ersfield prison enabled the state to bestow on
those who rebuilt after the Hartford model.

Allusion has been made to an interruption
which occurred in the early part of Mr. Pilsbury's
wardenship. For the good name of Connecticut,
we regret that this disgraceful affair can not here
be ignored. In the second year of his superintend-
ence, while he was engaged with unexampled
devotion and success in the arduous duties of his
ofiice, charges were brought against him and he
was removed. At Mr. Pilsbury's request, a com-
mittee of the legislature investigated the case.
The committee was composed of able and honora-
ble men. Their examination covered the entire

Albany Penitentiary. 55

Held, it reached the minutest items of management
and expense, and resulted in the triumphant vin-
dication of Mr. Pilsbury. His accusers were left
without an inch of ground to stand on. The
discarded officer was restored and the grateful
legislature, after paying the actual cost of his
defense, voted to compensate him for his loss of
time, and for the unpardonable vexation to which
he had been subjected. The action of the state
government, and general sentiment of the people,
are not the only condemnation passed on that act
of petty and personal malice. The prison itself
was grossly mismanaged and all but disorganized,
during the nine months it was in other hands. In
a tew months the former order was restored, and
its previous prosperity secured.

The fame of results so benignant and remark-
able as were those of the Connecticut prison,
could not long be confined within state limits.
Through the enlightened and earnest efforts of
the Prison Discipline society, the evils and abuses
of the old prisons were made known, and the
whole subject of prison construction, arrange-
ments, and discipline, became a topic of general
interest and frequent discussion throughout the
country. The old practice of allowing prisoners

56 Albany Penitentiakt.

freely to associate in their workshops, or in their
sleeping rooms, was universally condemned. But
there arose an important question. Was a system
of joint labor by day with complete isolation at
night — or one of absolute, solitary confinement,
the best adapted to produce reform? Each sys-
tem had its advocates, equally ardent and confi-
dent — while prisons of great size and cost were
going up in different parts of the United States, to
carry out the two dissimilar ideas. But while
others were idly theorizing, or actually launch-
ing forth on the sea of untried experiment, Mr.
Pilsbury, on the banks of the Connecticut, just
went forward and resolved the problem.

Many were the visitors — men of science and:
philanthropy — who came from other states and'
even from distant shores — to learn in Connecticut,
how felons might and should be treated. Here
they were seen unitedly and busily engaged in
some simple but profitable occupation; unitedly
and yet silently. No word, or look, or sign, was
allowed to pass between the convicts. Ever
watchful guards, judiciously placed, checked the
slightest infraction of the rules. Under the same
restrictions and the same vigilance, they marched
at meal times and at night, to their still and

Albany Penitentiary. 57

solitary cells. Their little sleeping rooms were
all above ground — well warmed, perfectly venti-
lated, and kept scrupulously clean. As these
were built and arranged on the principle of a
whispering gallery, all attempts at communication
were instantly detected, so that a single watchman
was sufficient to enforce the rule on a hundred of
these involuntary Trappists. As a sanitary ope-
ration, the system we are describing worked well.
Not only were the fevers and fatal contagions,
that once made jails so fearfully dangerous,
driven far away — sickness in its milder forms
became an infrequent visitant. The well re-
mained well, and even the invalid often grew
strong. No discipline could be more strict — yet
it was the discipline of Christian humanity — that
true kindness which never stiffens into cruelty,
and never melts into weak indulgence. All the
conditions of the case seemed here to be fulfilled.
The unhappy inmates were not hardened in crime
by intercourse with beings perhaps worse than
themselves. Neither were they driven to despair
or to madness, by the unmitigated horrors of per-
petual solitude. Restraint and labor, order and
silence, company and seclusion, good air and good
food every day, with rest and wholesome instruc-

58 Albany Penitentiary.

tion on the Sabbath day — these were the salutary
influences kindly brought to bear on the prisoners,
and which would lead to reformation, if any thing
would. With all these paramount advantages to
the criminal and to the community, the pleasing
fact was now first established, that the lawless
beings known before only as destructives, could
by right management, be brought into the ranks
of the self-supporting and even of the producing.

We could fill many pages with the testimony of
state governors, the reports of directors and com-
mittees, and the statements of commissioners and
visitors, both American and foreign — showing the
high estimation in which Mr. Pilsbury's abilities
and services were held. The following must
suffice.

The officers of the legislature said in 1842 :
"We should do injustice to the Warden of the
prison, if we should omit to bear testimony to his
superior qualifications for the arduous and respon-
sible office which he holds, and has so long held
to the great satisfaction of a large majority of the
people of the state, discharging all his official duties
with great ability, with fidelity to the state, with
humanity to the prisoners, and to the unqualified
acceptance of the directors ; to his unrivaled skill

Albany Penitentiary. 59

and singular fitness for the station which he holds,
that the gratifjdng results in the management of
the Connecticut state prison are mainly attribu-
table."

Again in 1843 :

"In conclusion the directors would be doing
violence to their own feelings, did they fail to
express their gratification at the admirable man-
ner in which the Warden has for a long series of
years discharged his arduous duties with credit to
himself and advantage to the state. As a thorough
disciplinarian, he is believed to be unequaled in the
country ; and as an able, faithful, energetic public
ofl&cer, they consider him deserving of the highest
respect and commendation."

In a report made by Roger Minot Sherman,
that great man said :

"Instead of being a charge on the treasury, it
is a source of revenue. In ten years the net earn-
ings, above all expenses, have been sufficient to
pay every expense of its erection, support, and man-
agement, and leave a surplus on hand of over
$10,000. The state, however, is greatly indebted
to the Messrs. Pilsbury for their superior skill in
conducting the institution. By one who was com-
petent to judge, and had made extensive inquiry

60 Albany Penitentiary.

in this country and in Europe, they have been
pronounced the best prison keepers in the world."

As stated in the preceding chapter, the commis-
sioners appointed to erect the Albany Penitentiary
having resolved to adopt the best model and to
have it erected under the best superintendence,
turned their attention to Mr. Pilsbury. He ac-
cepted their call. The building was erected
under his supervision ; and before they surrend-
ered their trust he was unanimously chosen by
the joint authorities of the city and county as its
Superintendent. In this capacity he has more
than maintained his previous reputation. The
Inspectors in their report at the close of the first
year thus expressed the estimate entertained of
his services.

"In the Superintendent of the Penitentiary the
county possesses an ofl&cer whose service is in-
valuable. They are happy to be enabled to add,
that his talents and worth are as fully acknow-
ledged by all classes and parties of the community,
as it is known they are by both the city and
county governments. The manner in which Mr.
Pilsbury discharges the duties of his office and his
eminent qualifications for the position he occupies,
command general admiration. It is gratifying

Albany Penitentiary. 61

also to feel assured that the sentiment of regard
and attachment is reciprocal. "While all appre-
ciate his zeal and fitness, and the great good his
labors and assiduity have wrought amongst us, he
too is sensible that he possesses the respect and
confidence of the public.

"The Inspectors trust and believe that the con-
nection subsisting between the Superintendent of
the Penitentiary and the community to whose
welfare and interests his whole time and efforts
are directed, will long endure, and not on either
hand be lightly or willingly severed. All which
is respectfully submitted."

This estimate has never experienced any dimi-
nution; but has been deservedly confirmed and
heightened as time advanced, and his services
were the better understood. The discipline of
the Penitentiary has never relaxed, nor its pros-
perity, in his hands, declined. Emergencies have
arisen through the fluctuations of trade, and some
years the prospect of financial success was dis-
couraging ; but he has, as we shall subsequently
see, most successfully met them all. From year to
year the Inspectors have borne their most empha-
tic testimony to his personal worth and labors.
In their report for 1852, they said : "In all that

62 Albany Penitentiary.

constitutes excellence in a prison, both morally
and physically considered, so far as the Inspectors
have seen and know, the Albany Penitentiary
has not its superior in the world." And
again in 1855 in view of his resignation: "To
say what Mr. Pilsbury is, and how his character
and service are regarded and appreciated in
Albany, is quite superfluous : they are household
words. The Albany Penitentiary, now widely re-
nowned, is his own creation. The ability and
success with which it has been conducted, are
unparalleled any where. It has conferred honor
on our city, and has constituted a new era in the
history of punishment. The example has been
copied in three other judicial districts of the
state, and is accomplishing a sure revolution
through the land. Mr. Pilsbury's pupils, young
men whom he has educated in his peculiar sys-
tem, are now conducting, with great success,
similar institutipns in this and other states."

The following voluntary testimonial was given
by the late Louis Dwight, Esq., who for years was
the distinguished secretary of the Boston Prison
Discipline Society. It was never seen, nor known
to exist, by Mr. Pilsbury till a few months since.

Albany Penitent: art, 63

Boston, Dec. 9, 1845.
To Sam'l Pruyn, Esq., chairman of Commissioners
for building Albany County Penitentiary.

/ kTKm 710 man livin.<j, nor have I ever seen the
man, during twenty years observation, on prisons
and prison officers, who is as certain to bring
about favorable pecuniary results in the manage-
ment of a Penitentiary, as Amos Pilsbury. He
seems to have obtained very honestly from his
father, partly by birth, and partly by education,
the faculty and the integrity necessary to do
this. He is unrivaled, except by his father, in
the beauty and accuracy of prison accounts, and
he is absolutely unrivaled, after he has made his
thousands, above all expenses, from the labor of
prisoners, in paying aver the mmiey into the trea-
sury of the government. I do not speak of this,
because I consider it the most important object of
prison discipline ; but because of the proof which
it affords of wisdom, industry, economy, caution,
energy, activity and faithfulness, which makes
the man so reliable, as a public officer, and a
Prison Keeper. These high qualifications would
be of great consequence, in the first place, to the
county of Albany, and through the county of

64 Albany Penitentiary.

Albany, as the great centre of the state, to all
the counties in the state. If the question be
whether the County Prisons, in the state of New
York, shall become self-supporting institutions,
and, at the same time, disciplinary and reformatory
in character and morals, Amos Pilsbury is the
man, in my opinion, above all others, to hasten
this great and important result, in political
economy. It will make a difference of a millioit
of dollars, in my opinion, to the state of New
York, whether his services are secured, as a
Prison Keeper for that state or not ; provided he
lives and serves the state four years. And the
difference to public morals will be of still greater
consequence. Who can do so much to trust indus-
try and self-support, to the very dregs of society, and
obedience too, without undue severity, principally
by constant supervision and care and safe keeping,
as Amos Pilsbury? Am I asked for proof / refer
to the life. No other man has ever shcnvn such results
in this or any otlier couiitry, for so long a course of
time, so far as my Icnowledge and observation extends.
Most respectfully your friend,

And obedient servant,

Louis Dwight.

Albany Penitentiaet. 65

REsiaivrATioisr of the superintendei^t.

Among the charitable institutions near the city
of New York, is that on Ward's island, which was
established by the legislature to relieve the towns
and counties of the state from the tax of support-
ing pauper immigrants, and to provide a hospital
and home for those of this class who may land
in New York, and are sick and needy; or who
may become so within a limited time. This
institution is in the charge of a board appointed
by the governor of the state, called the commis-
sioners of emigration. Extensive and suitable
buildings have been erected there for the purposes
designed, and the institution has commendably
answered the end for which it was established.

In the year 1855, notwithstanding their large
receipts, the commissioners were very seriously
embarrassed by its pecuniary state. The expendi-
tures were so large that they were brought to the
verge of insolvency. They were consequently
compelled to adopt some measure for relief At

66 ALBA^'Y Pexitextiabt.

that time the Hon. E. D. Morgan, since governor
of the state, and now a senator of the United
States, was a member of the board. He sug-
gested that they should get a thoroughly able
and good man to take charge of the institution,
and thus, if possible, improve its condition. Hav-
ing long known iMr. Pilsbury he at once introduced
his name to the commissioners, and assured them
that he was the man to accomplish the task.

An invitation was consequently given him to
take charge of the institution, at a salary of
:S-t,ijrj(j per annum, with a residence on the island,
and necessary provision for his table. This,
apart from pecuniary considerations, was an in-
viting offer, for it opened a new and larger sphere
of action ; it presented a different field for his
administrative powers, and that, when he was
justlv conscious of abUity to enter it; and it pro-
mised greatly extended usefulness. Nevertheless
the call occasioned him considerable perplexity ;
for the Albany Penitentiary was to him as the
ofispring of his own genius and practical nurture.
He had been identified with it as no other man
could be ; and its prosperity had been the object
of his constant thought and toil. His associations
moreover with Albany had been always pleasant.

Albant Pexitextiary. 67

Here for more than ten years he had been per-
mitted and encouraged to caiTj out his plans,
without political rivalry, or unfriendly suspicion.
To leave such an institution, and such associations
for the "populous solitude" of Ward's island,
was certainly not abstractedly inviting. But
after repeated solicitation he reluctantly con-
sented to do so. feeling that Providence called
him to it. and that it was in some respects, a
self-denying mission for good.

The Inspectors in speaking of his resignation
in their report for 185o, said: "The Inspectors
have long been aware of the urgent eiforts. made
by leading and influential men in this state, to
induce Mr. Pilsbury to assume the control and
government of the Refuge and Hospital of the
commissioners of emigration on Ward's island, at
Xew York ; and that the appliances and argu-
ments used by them, have at length prevailed
^vith him to consider it a matter of duty and
patriotism, on his part, to comply with their
wishes.

"The Inspectors were not disposed to interfere
or remonstrate, lest they might be suspected of
selfish views in thwarting the Superintendents
personal interests, or those general state interests

68 Albany Penitentiary.

which were said to be involved. They neverthe-
less thought it a mistaken policy, and that Mr.
Pilsbury's usefulness here was of greater moment
to the welfare of community at large, than in
the sphere to which he was to be translated.

" In 1845, at the request of the commissioners
appointed to construct the Penitentiary, Mr. Pils-
bury, a stranger, came to Albany, where politics,
in regard to public appointments, have usually
been omnipotent. He has been four times rmani-
mously chosen for terms of three years each, to be
its Superintendent, and in almost every case by
boards, the majority in which, were opposite to
himself in political opinion. But his talents, abil-
ity and social worth are too well known and under-
stood to require eulogy ; it only remains for the
Inspectors to speak of the present emergency."

At the joint meeting of the mayor and recorder
of Albany, and the supervisors of the county,
held on the twenty-second of November, 1855, he
tendered his resignation of the office he had so
long and honorably held. In his communication,
there was a cordial acknowledgment of the cheer-
ful and efficient supports he had received, and the
kind estimate entertained of his labors. He
said: "I herewith hand you my report, exhibit-

Albany Penitentiary. 69

iiiij,' the income and i'\i)e'nditure,s in the opera-
tions of the Institution for the year ending
October 31, 185'). It will be seen by the several
stafeineuts and tables annexed, that the profit ibr
the year, after deducting evtu-y e\[)ense for its
support and management (including the salaries
of Chaplain and Physician, and the wages of all
the subordinate officers), has been twenty-five
hundred eighty-six dollars and fifty-three cents,
while it is entirely free /rotn dcld.

"In submitting this, which in all probability
will be the last report or official communication I
shall have the honor of transmitting through you,
it will not, I trust, be deemed out of place should
I embrace the opportunity to acknowledge the
kindness and constant support I have at all times
and under all circumstances received from you
indi\'idually, and as a board, and also from the
several mayors, reconk'rs and boards of supervi-
sors during the ten _years I have been assot'iated
with you and them, in the building and manage-
ment of the Penitentiary.

"The position which I tjccupied was for many
years one ol' extreme labor aiul anxiety, and
although at times discouraging, your confidence
and appreciation of my services, always incited

10

70 Albany Penitent: aet.

me to renewed exertions to promote the interests
of the Institution and the welfare of those com-
mitted to my care, by devoting my whole time,
with all the industry and intelligence of which
I was capable, to make the Penitentiary, if possi-
ble, a model institution. I have endeavored to
make it a school where the young, at least, while
suffering confinement for crime, should be taught
principles and habits of industry, and of personal
morality calculated to govern them in their future
lives. For the success which has attended my
labors, I am greatly indebted to the citizens and
press of Albany. From the commencement of
the institution to the present time, not a word of
censure, or unfavorable comment (so far as I
know) has ever been published by either of the
many papers of this city, or state, while all of
them, from time to time, have spoken in the high-
est terms of commendation of its management,
discipline and success, thus giving to the Peni-
tentiary a reputation that has aided me much in
the discharge of my duties. Prisoners have come
here feeling and knowing that the community
approved of and had confidence in the discipline
and management of its affairs, and consequently
they have expected to behave well, and generally

Albany Penitentiary. 71

liave done so without punishment of any kind ;
the cheerful compliance with the I'ules on the part
of the prisoners, the order and discipline which
has without difficulty or severity been maintained,
should be attributed in a great measure to the
confidence and support I have received from the
authorities and citizens of the city and county of
Albany, for which I desire to express my warm-
est acknowledgments, and to assure you and
them, that it will always be a source of great
satisfaction and gratification to feel that my
course of conduct as a public officer, and my
management of the Penitentiary has met with
and received the approval of the citizens of
Albany, and the public generally.

"Considerations, other than personal comfort or
pecuniary profit, have induced me, reluctantly, to
accept the appointment of superintendent of the
institution on Ward's island, city of New York,
which was tendered me (as you are aware) against
my wishes by the commissioners of emigration.

"When, therefore, the mayor and recorder and
board of supervisors of the county of Albany
shall, in joint meeting, elect or appoint my
successor, and whenever he enters upon its
duties, my responsibility as Superintendent of the

72 Albany Penitentiakt.

Penitentiary will cease ; until then I hold myself

accountable for its management while the interest

I shall feel in its prosperity and welfare will end

only with life.

Very Respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

Amos Pilsbtjry."

This resignation the authorities hesitated to
accept, anxious to retain so valuable a public
oflEicer. They laid it on the table; appointed a
committee to confer with the Superintendent of
the Penitentiary, and adjourned to meet on the
twentieth day of the next month.

At the adjourned meeting in December, the
committee reported that "they had satisfactorily
ascertained from him, that no inducement could
be held out that would cause him to withdraw
his resignation, he having, as he said, taken a
step that as an honorable man he could not re-
trace."

In anticipation of a new appointment, several
individuals became candidates for the ofl&ce, but
after three ineffectual ballotings, Louis D. Pils-
bury, was, in accordance with the recommenda-
tions of the Inspectors, elected to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the resignation of his father.

Albany Penitentiary. 73

APPOINTMENT OF A NEW SUPEEINTEND-
ENT; HIS TRIALS, AND RESIGNATION.

As the appointment of Louis D. Pilsbury was
for the unexpired term for which his father had
been previously chosen, the authorities at theii
joint meeting held December 7, 1857, duly elected
him as Superintendent of the Penitentiary for
three years from the first day of March, 1858. In
the report of the Inspectors then presented they
said "The Penitentiary is still a self supporting
institution, the receipts for the last year having
been |2,152.76 in excess of its expenditure. The
established discipline has been properly main-
tained, and in that respect they can see no differ-
ence between its present management, and that
of its former efficient Superintendent."

But at that time a dreadful commercial panic
had seized the mercantile community. Men's
hearts were failing them for fear. Business was
completely paralyzed. A monetary convulsion
prevailed. Strong men and immense establish-
ments were borne down by the destructive

74 Albany Penitentiary.

current. The contractors for convict labor at the
state prison Wethersfield, Conn., at Auburn, and
Sing Sing in this state, had thrown up their con-
tracts, and the Superintendent had received notice
from the contractors for labor at this Penitentiary
that they would discontinue theirs after the 25th
of that month, December.

This was most trying to an aspiring young
man who desired to fulfill successfully his trust,
and sustain the high prestige of the Institution
committed to his charge. But it could not be
evaded. Dependent as was the Penitentiary for
success on the earnings of its inmates, that could
not be realized when no work could be procured.
"The Superintendent and the Inspectors used
every means in their power to procure employ-
ment for the prisoners without success; and the
former Superintenderit, with that deep interest
in the welfare of the Institution which he con-
stantly cherished, was indefatigable in his ex-
ertions for the same object, but in vain." The
labor of the convicts was offered to manufacturers
on very low terms, but no one would accept it.

The effect was every way trying and discou-
raging. It is forcibly stated in the report of the
Inspectors for 1858.

Albany Penitentiary. 75

" It will be remembered that the Inspectors in
their last annual report stated that by reason of
the monetary revulsion which had then recently
overturned almost in a day the business of the
community ; when the workshops of the country
were closed, the banks suspended, and thousands
of operatives suddenly thrown out of employment,
the contractors employing the prisoners had noti-
fied the Superintendent that they would be unable
to proceed, and therefore be forced to abandon their
contracts. On the 25th December, 1857, all the
operations in the saddlery and hardware depart-
ment — the most lucrative and important branch
of business carried on — were closed, and nearly
one hundred of the most effective men in the Pri-
son at once cast into idleness. Those engaged at
chair seating, both men and women, were kejat
partially busy for a short time longer, when their
employers, having closed their factory in conse-
quence of the stringency of the times and the
impossibility of effecting sales of the manufactured
article, were unable to furnish any more work.
So that on the 15th January last all remunerative
labor in the Penitentiary entirely ceased; and
thus, in mid-winter, and in the gloomiest time the
merchants and manufacturers of our country have

76 Albany Penitentiakt.

ever experienced, three hundred and twenty-eight
prisoners (two hundred and fifty-five men and
seventy-three women), stood entirely idle : and to
add to the misfortune, the Prison just then was
unusually crowded, the number of its inmates being
greater than it ever had been before, or ever has
been since. It was indeed a trying time, not only
to the convicts but to the officers of the institu-
tion, for nothing can be more irksome and depres-
sing than a total want of occupation. The disci-
pline {silence, novr-intercourse, order, clock-work
regularity), had to be maintained, and it was
maintained. The men divided into squads of
twenty-five to thirty, with an officer to each, were
seated in circles in the work shops, and from time
to time during the day were exercised in the open
air, but only to return again to their seats. It is
wonderful that the health of the convicts remained
so good as it did, for certainly the punishment
during that long term of idleness, was more severe
than any they had before experienced. Imagine !
twelve to fourteen hours in the day time spent by
the prisoners, seated in dumb idleness, with their
eyes bent upon the ground, and their keepers (not
allowed by the rules to sit), standing in their
midst with nothing to do except to keep their eyes

Albany Penitentiary. 77

upon the prisoners. It is difficult to decide which
was the preferable position. The excellent Chap-
lain of the Prison, as often as he could do so, held
meetings in the hall for moral and religious
instruction. He also advised that the convicts
should be furnished with books of a suitable
character, which being done, afforded to those
who could read partial relief from the dull
monotony of their daily existence. Occasionally,
as some prospect opened, the Inspectors would
desire the keepers to inform the convicts that
work would probably soon be obtained, and it was
both curious and affecting to witness the eager joy
with which such announcements were received.
Truly, man in his laziest estate, is not altogether
an indolent being, he covets employment either of
mind or body ; he craves something — something —
to do. As many as could be employed around
the premises, in a manner consistent with their
safe-keeping, were kept as busy as circumstances
would allow; but it was mid-winter, and there
was little outside work to be done. Thus, the
great mass of more than three hundred men and
women, were, from sheer necessity, utterly idle.

'• In the meantime the Superintendent was inde-
fatigable in his efforts to discover means by which
11

78 Albany Penitentiary.

the prisoners might be profitably occupied ; while
his father, the former Superintendent, at his own
cost and charges, scoured our own and neighboring
states with the same object in view, but only to
find other prisons, more or less, in the same con-
dition, and manufactories closed without work for
their own operatives."

It is not surprising that, under these circum-
stances, the youthful Superintendent was dis-
couraged, nor that, with the prospect of continued
adversity and dependence on the county treasury,
he should desire to resign his charge. Just at
that time an opportunity was presented for him
honorably to do so. He received a call to the
management of the state prison in Joliet, Illinois,
which he decided to accept.

Having informed the Inspectors of his purpose
he addressed the following letter to the mayor and
recorder of Albany, and the board of supervisors
May 8th, 1858. It shows his appreciation of their
confidence and deep regret that untoward circum-
stances had prevented his success.

Albany Penitentiary. 79

To the Mayor and Eecorder of the City of Albany, and
the Board of Supervisors of the County of Albany,
in joint meeting assembled :

Having received an invitation to take charge
of the new Illinois state prison, now building at
Joliet in that state, I have deemed it my duty to
accept thereof, and therefore hereby resign the
situation of Superintendent of the Albany County
Penitentiary which I now hold, to take eflfect on
the first day of June next.

It is with extreme regret I leave a city in which
I have lived so long, and to which, with all its
interests, I have become so strongly attached, but
considerations of another character have induced
me to present my resignation. I also deeply
regret, that a combination of untoward circum-
stances, have resulted in my leaving the Peni-
tentiary in a less flourishing condition than when
I assumed its management.

Having been twice, by you, appointed the chief
officer of the Albany Penitentiary, allow me to
return my best thanks for the generous manner
in which I have always been treated by the joint
authorities, the support and encouragement I have
received from the Inspectors, and all the city and

80 Albany Penitentiaky.

county officers, and for the general good will and
kindness invariably manifested towards me by the
citizens of Albany. All these will ever live in my
most grateful remembrance.

^ith respect, your obedient servant,
Louis D. Pilsbtjry.
Penitentiary. May Sth, 1858.

Albany Penitentiary. 81

RECALL OF FORMER SCrPERINTENDENT.

The aspect of affairs at the Penitentiary was
at that time ominous, and the situation of the In-
spectors perplexing indeed. It was not that
there were no candidates for the vacant office,
nor that those who sought it were not respectable
and worthy men ; but their anxiety was to secure
an individual who was thoroughly adapted to
the situation, and equal to the then existing
emergency. They saw a man was required who,
in addition to a thorough practical experience in
prison discipline, had a character that would
attract public confidence, courage to meet obsta-
cles, persistency in contending with them, wisdom
in devising measures for their removal, and skill
in the execution of necessary plans. To have
given the office then to an individual who had not
these qualifications, would have been to destroy
the reputation of the Penitentiary, and extin-
guish the sanguine expectations which had been
justly indulged of its permanent usefulness.

82 Albany Penitentiaey.

Under these circumstances the Inspectors wisely
and unanimously advised the authorities to use
every means in their power to induce Amos Pils-
bury to resume his former position of Superin-
tendent of the Penitentiary. They said: "He
is the best and probably the only man, at this
special time, who can put the Institution on its
former good footing, and so conduct it as to shield
the county from expense."

In thinking now of this advice, it seems to
bear somewhat the aspect of temerity, for they
knew that Mr. Pilsbury's services on Ward's
island had been remarkably successful, that they
were highly valued by the commissioners of emi-
gration, that no efforts would be spared to retain
them, and that he had signified no disposition to
return to Albany. They said in their recom-
mendation :

"Although the Inspectors have frequently of
late approached Mr. Pilsbury on this subject,
they can not say they have received much en-
couragement that he would return to Albany and
occupy his former place ; but yet, from the deep
interest he has ever manifested in the success and
character of an institution which he has, as it
were, built up and made himself, and with which

Albany Penitentiary. 83

his name and fame, far and wide, are identified,
and the zealous efforts which he has put forth,
down to the present time, to advance its pros-
perity, the Inspectors confidently believe that if
a unanimous invitation to return to its charge
shall be extended to him by the joint authorities,
he will not feel at liberty to decline. The great
importance of his services at present would seem
to require that this effort should at once be made."

In accordance with this recommendation of the
Inspectors, the authorities at their joint meeting
adopted the following preamble and resolutions :

"Whereas, a vacancy in the office of Superin-
tendent of the Albany Penitentiary will exist on
the first day of June next, by reason of the
present incumbent having resigned said office
from and after that day : and,

^'■Whereas, This joint board entertaining the
highest confidence in the preeminent fitness of
Amos Pilsbury, Esq., for such office, the duties of
which he so long discharged to the entire satisfac-
tion of the people of this county ; therefore

^'■Resolved, That Amos Pilsbury, Esq., be and
hereby is appointed Superintendent of the Albany
Pentitentiary, to fill the vacancy occasioned by
the resignation of Louis D. Pilsbury.

84 Albany PE^^TEXTIAEY.

"Eesolved, That the salarj' of said Superintend-
ent be fixed at 82.500, being the same as hereto-
fore paid him."

To this invitation IMr. Pilsburj^ made no formal
response, but happily for the interests of the
Pemtentiary, the coimty and the state, he
assumed the position with his accustomed vigor,
discretion and tact: and the beneficial results
were soon apparent.

As might have been expected the commissioners
of emigration took immediate action to secure the
continuance of his services. They raised his salary
to So.OOO per annum and left him no alternative but
to remain on Ward's island, and in his government
there. Consequently, while from a regard to the
interests of the Penitentiary he acted as its Super-
intendent, vet. as he could not reside here, he
placed in the hands of the Inspectors a formal
resignation of the office to take effect whenever
his successor was appointed and ready to enter on
its duties.

This resignation the Inspectors wisely deter-
mined to keep in their own hands : for they were
thoroughly satisfied that while the responsibilities
of the position were on him, they would be honor-
ably met and discharged, and that every thing

Albaxt Pe>l[tzxtiart. S5

would be done that could be to restore the Peni-
tentiary- to its former prosperous state. In this
course thev were sustained by the advice of
several prominent citizens, and public men. Mr.
Pilsbury was therefore left "to select an officer of
his own training, educated by himself in his own
system, and at his own expense, to be his hands
while he himself was the head, and sustained all
the responsibility of conducting the Institution."

Time soon determined the correctness of this
opinion and course. The Inspectors said in their
next annual report : "In five months Mr. Pilsbury
has nearly restored the Penitentiary to its former
useful state, and it is now again in a prosperous
condition, with every prospect of continued success.
He has. without impairing its efficiency or scanting
its inmates, but mainly by his skill in purchasing,
and other methods of economy, reduced the ex-
penses of the establishment more than fifty per
cent, while every man and woman in the concern
is industriously engaged at remunerating work.
In this place, however, it is but just to the former
Superintendent to state, that the seven months of
his administration were, and are always, by far,
the most expensive portion of the year, and also,

that during that period there was a much larger
12

86 Albany Penitentiary.

number of prisoners to feed, clothe and maintain,
than had ever been on hand before.

" Nor has the present Superintendent, thus far,
reaped any pecuniary benefit for himself from
these circumstances, because he has expended
every dollar of his salary in paying the services
of his representative, in traveling expenses and
other outlays to promote the interests and welfare
of the Penitentiary, and to obtain and secure labor
for the prisoners. No one better than the In-
spectors, can tell the amount of trouble and ex-
pense and extraordinary exertions, that have been
made, and incurred, by the Superintendent during
the last six months, to improve and restore the
condition of an institution, with which his name
and reputation are so closely and extensively
known, which last circumstance has without
doubt proved a more powerful incentive to his
efforts than any pecuniary compensation that
could have been offered to him. The Inspectors
knew the remarkable capacity of Mr. Pilsbury,
and that whatever he undertook would prosper ;
that he was entirely competent to manage, at one
time, if need be, several such institutions, in a
masterly manner, with equal ability and success :
they believed that the authorities would coincide

Albant Penitentiary. 87

with their views, and they hnew that nine-tenths
of the community would sustain them. Having
the public good and that only in view, without
regard to those who make office-seeking a trade,
they felt they could safely and confidently rely on
this joint board and on the tax-payers of the
county for approbation and support. It is true
that the Superintendent, at present, does not
constantly reside at the Penitentiary, but this vio-
lates no law, because there is no law in relation to
it. It may be a nominal, but nevertheless only a
partial infringement of a rule instituted by the
joint board for the regulation of the Prison ; and
this, by the advice of leadilig citizens and mem-
bers of this joint board and by public opinion,
and by the Inspectors, who consider the public
interests paramount, has, for the time being, been
waived. The Superintendent is at the Peni-
tentiary, as long and as often, as is necessary,
and whenever absent, receives daily, full and
minute reports of every transaction and event
that occurs. His representative, trained by him-
self for many years in his own system, and in his
own pay, is constantly on the spot exercising full
power under his principal, who is responsible for
him and for the good conduct of the whole concern.

88 Albany Penitentiary.

"The public are not only satisfied with this
arrangement, but, in common with the Inspectors,
think it would be perfectly suicidal to the public
interests to interfere with it, and to throw away
not only all those advantages, but $10,000 to
|20,000 per annum besides, for a mere techni-
cality, which, if thought necessary, can easily be
obviated by the passage of a resolution suspending
only one line of the rules and regulations during
the pleasure of the joint board."

Happily the opinions of the authorities harmo-
nized with those of the Inspectors. At the next
meeting of the joint board, held on December 3,
1858, their course was readily endorsed, and the
clause in the rules and by-laws for the government
of the Penitentiary, which provides that the Su-
perintendent "shall reside at the Penitentiary,"
was suspended during the pleasure of the board.
Thus all cause for complaint, on the ground
of non-residence, was removed. The resignation
was practically disposed of, and the Superintend-
ent was left to complete the work of restoration
he had so promisingly begun.

Albany Penitentiart. 89

EENEWED FrSTAI^CIAL PEOSPEKITY.

This honorable expression of confidence on the
part of the authorities of the Penitentiary was
highly appreciated by Mr. Pilsbury, and induced
a determination to continue his well directed
efforts to restore the Institution to its former state
of financial prosperity. In his next report to the
Inspectors he said: "Deeply grateful for the con-
fidence reposed in me and for the encouraging
terms in which you have been pleased on many
occasions to notice my labors in endeavoring to
render the Albany Penitentiary a model institu-
tion, I submit to you my ofl&cial report, which
presents naost gratifying evidences of renewed
prosperity during the year just ended, and con-
firms the fact that in regard to health, cleanliness
and discipline the condition of the Prison has
never been better than at the present time.

"When my resignation of July, 1858, was not
acted upon, and when, afterwards, at your re-
quest, without my knowledge, the supervisors.

90 Albany Penitentiary.

mayor and recorder in joint meeting changed the
rules so as to admit of my non-residence at the
Penitentiary, and in so flattering a manner (with
the citizens of Albany) desired my continued
supervision of an institution in whose welfare I
take so deep an interest, I felt that I could no
longer decline the trust, but made arrangements
for having a representative, educated in prison
management and discipline by myself, constantly
at the Prison at my own expense, guarding its
interests, watching closely every thing affecting
its welfare, and exercising faithfully (as I was sure
he would) my directions to the minutest particu-
lar, in relation to its discipline and business affairs.

"I, myself, have visited the Penitentiary as
often, and remained there as long as seemed
necessary, and have received daily reports of
its condition.

" Thus supervised it has been highly prosperous,
and the profits or net gains for the year just
ended are larger than they have ever been before
in the same period of time."

In estimating this happy result it is necessary
to remember that in seasons of embarrassment
and distress there is a stronger disposition and a
greater readiness to help those individuals and

Albany Penitentiary. 91

firms that are of tried character and practical
energy, than those which have a less honored
reputation. So it is with institutions that need
public patronage on a more extended scale, espe-
cially those where convicts alone are employed.
At all times their reputation for discipline, energy
and efficiency will have much to do with the
ease with which contracts for labor are secured,
and with their remunerative character; but espe-
cially so in seasons of commercial depression
when enterprise is crippled, and work is hard to
be obtained.

This principle received a signal illustration in
the history of the Albany Penitentiary during
the general commercial depression of 1857 and
1858. The contracts for labor were not discon-
tinued there till after they had been at the state
prisons in this state and elsewhere. And others
were effected for this Institution earlier than for
those in other parts. This was unquestionably
owing, in great part, to the high character it bore
among those manufacturers and employers who
needed such labor.

It will be remembered that Mr. Pilsbury re-
sumed the charge of the Penitentiary on the first
of June, 1858. There were then over three

92 Albany Penitentiary.

hundred prisoners in the Institution with almost
nothing to do. Many of them had so long and
so greatly suffered "from mere want of employ-
ment, that the officers were most happy to accept
any work for the convicts, however small its
avails, that promised to mitigate, in any degree,
the tedious weariness of their long days of idle-
ness and silence."

Prison labor was at that time a drug in the
market, and there was but little prospect of
securing this necessary boon. Nevertheless the
Superintendent during the month of July, and
within forty days of his reappointment, succeeded
in obtaining a contract for their work.

The next month another contract was secured
which was favorable to the interests of the Insti-
tution. And though these contracts were for
work which had not been done there before, and
consequently necessitated a change of tools and
machinery, still they changed the entire aspect of
affairs, and encouraged the Superintendent in his
report for 1858, to promise the Inspectors that
the next year the income of the Penitentiary
should meet its expenditure.

This pledge he happily more than fulfilled.
In June, 1859, another contract was effected, on

Albany Penitentiary. 93

equally advantageous terms, which provided suf-
ficient employment for the convicts. The shops
throughout were again the scene of active indus-
try, and the officers were relieved of what had
been a tedious and oppressive burden. Every
thing assumed a promising aspect, and the finan-
cial year closed more prosperously than ever
before.

The income for that period was, |18,119 06

The expenditure for the same time, 13,562 45

Leaving a balance in favor of the

Penitentiary of, - - - |4,556 61

This balance, it is but just to say, was not, in
a single fraction, secured at the expense of the
prisoners, by depriving them of good, or a suffi-
cient quantity of food, or of necessary clothing;
but it was by a careful watching of every ex-
penditure, by making purchases for cash, and
by the practice in every department of a rigid
economy. The Inspectors who had exercised a
constant oversight of the Institution through the
year assured the joint board in their report for
that period, that its management in every particu-
lar had "been eminently fortunate," and that

these gratifying results had not been secured by
13

94 Albany Pexitextiart.

accident or anj" unfair means, but "through toil
and patience, bv skill and industry, superior to
all the difficulties that rose in the path to success."

It would, however, be unjust to leave the his-
tory of that important period here, for the report
of the institution for that year shows that of the
one thousand two hundred and seven prisoners
received, four hundred and forty-four were sen-
tenced for only ten days, and could pay nothing
for food and clothing, as the contractors wiU not
usually accept any prisoner for a less time than
three months : and four hundred and eighty-one
were sentenced for terms from one to three
months, while only two hundred and eighty-two
were committed for more than three months.
Thus it may be seen at a glance by what number
of convicts the industry of the institution was sus-
tained, and this financial result secured.

At that time the Inspectors presented a tabular
statement of the earnings and expenditures of the
Penitentiarj- from its commencement, October 31.
1S49, to October 31, 1859, from which it appeared
that the aggregate earnings for the eleven years,
over and above all demands, expenses and contin-
gencies of every character, were ^6,445.31, notwith-
standing every draw back. They added : '* Thus it

Albaxy Pexitextiaet. 95

may fairly bf; claimed that the Penitentiary has
never lost the character of a self-supporting Insti-
tution, for the amount of its earnings, during its
whole existence, has largely exceeded the amount
of its expenditures, and the overplus, instead of
being reserved for the wants of unpropitious times
(as, perhaps, they should have been), has been
used for such permanent repairs and improvements
of the property as — if the relation of landlord and
tenant existed in the case — might have been pro-
perly charged to the county, as the owner of the
premises.

"Permit the Inspectors to go a step further, and
perhaps correct an impression which may possibly
be entertained, viz. : that although the convicts'
earnings have sufficed for the maintenance of the
Institution since the time it went into operation,
yet, that the "Penitentiary and its equipments
have cost a large sum, for which there is no money
equivalent, and that thus the public have been
burthened. To this we say, that from the time
the land was bought, and from the day on which
the first stone of the buildings was laid, every dol-
lar drawn from the treasury, and all expense of
every name and nature incurred (including even
the pay of the Superintendent, who has always

96 Albany Penitentiary.

been a salaried officer of the county), up to this
time, is compensated, and more than compensated,
by the present value of the real and personal
estate comprising the Penitentiary property,
which, at any moment, would sell for and realize
more than it has cost ; while the expense of main-
taining the prisoners (who would otherwise have
lain idle) in the jail, for eleven years, would have
amounted to a much greater sum than the cost of
all the land and buildings and all the personal
property of the establishment up to this day. So
that while on the one hand the support of the pri-
soners in the Penitentiary, for eleven years, has
cost the county nothing, on the other hand, if the
Penitentiary had not existed, the expense of their
board alone in the jail, under the old system, for
the same length of time, would have amounted
to more than the present cost of all the land and
buildings, with all their appurtenances, furniture
and equipments complete. Leaving all moral
influences and effects, therefore, entirely out of the
question, and viewing it only as a simple finan-
cial matter, the whole project has been a perfect
success, and it is doubtful if any municipal enter-
prise here or any where else, has ever equaled
it, or can show similar results.

Albany Penitentiary. 97

" But during all these eleven years the reform-
atory influence of the Prison has suffered no
abatement from financial calamities or depressions
of business; at no time have the reins of disci-
pline been relaxed for a single moment. The
great objects and ends of prison restraint have
received unremitting attention, and the Peniten-
tiary, whether its inmates could be supplied with
employment, or no sound of industry could be
heard within its walls, has, from the first, main-
tained its position among the foremost penal
institutions of the world."

98 Albany Penitentiary.

RETURN OF TliE SUi:'ERI]SrTENDENT TO
RESIDE AT THE PENITEN^^IARV.

While Mr. Pilsbuiy was diligently attending
to his duties on Ward's island, and superintend-
ing the aftairs of the Penitentiary, he was, with-
out his solicitation or knowledge, unanimously
chosen general superintendent of the Metropoli-
tan Police. This was then a peculiarly diflFicult
and trying position. Not long before the state
legislature had in response to numerously signed
petitions, but in opposition to the wishes of a con-
siderable number of citizens changed the police
system' of New York city. Instead of having it
under the control of the city government, and
consequently subject to the political changes
which might annually occur, a law was passed
creating a board of police commissioners, who,
irrespective of party politics, had the entire direc-
tion of the force. This law was for a time
strongly opposed, but having been decided con-
stitutional the commissioners had assumed their
duties. The first Superintendent did not long

Albany Penitentiary. 99

retiiin the office, and at this time they wanted a
thoroughly competent man to fill that place.

Their attention was directed to the super-
intendent of Ward's island; and as his tact,
firmness and administrative talents, had by that
time become well known, he was elected thereto.
At first he regarded the proposition with disfavor.
Mis hands and head were fully occupied. The
positions he held were both important and useful.
His services in both were kindly desired and
valued; and it was doubtful whether if he left
them the good work he had begun, would be
carried on to completion. Still those who knew
the wants of that important position, and Mr.
Pilsbury's fitness for it, urged his acceptance ;
and some of them, who occupied high stations in
social and civil life, presented strong inducements
for him to do so. At length he signified his will-
ingness to accept the office provided he could have
the power which the law granted, and which was
indispensable to efficiency. This was readily pro-
mised, and the condition of his acceptance was
embodied in the letter which informed the com-
missioners of that fact. He said : " I have con-
cluded to accept, with the understanding that all
power and authority, consistent with law, necessary

100 Albany Penitentiary.

to enable me to fill the office with credit to the
public, the commissioners, and myself, shall be
conferred upon me as its chief executive officer of
the police department."

In entering on this office Mr. Pilsbury received
from the large force subject to his direction, the
appellation of "General," and instantly applied
himself to master its duties and details.'^ Devot-
ing to police affairs from twelve to sixteen hours
of each day, he ascertained minutely the condition
of the department, and set himself earnestly to
the great task of remedying its defects and in-
creasing its efficiency. Too wise and practical to
attempt more, at first, than he would be likely to
accomplish ; too cautious to make any ill-consi-
dered move ; too firm ever to retreat or falter ;
and too modest to proclaim, in advance, the good
he meant to do — he proceeded quietly but surely
in his arduous work.

A great reform soon made its appearance at
the rail road stations and around the steam boat
landings. The importunate and often insolent
hackmen, who had so long thronged those places

i The following statement is chiefly taken from a history of
the events published at the time by a gentleman residing in
New York.

Albany Penitentiaey. 101

on the arrival of car and steamer, received for
the first time, a lesson in good manners. Under
a vigilant and efficient police, order and quiet,
and civility took the place which had been
usurped by rudeness and noisy confusion. To
estimate the value of this single improvement,
we should consider how many thousands daily
enter our great city through these gates of
travel — many of them strangers — and not a few
of these ignorant and unprotected.

The Superintendent turned his attention also to
the protection of travelers and emigrants against
the wiles of bogus ticket sellers and their infa-
mous agents, and so effectually were the arts of
these villains counteracted, that the evil was well
nigh eradicated at the time when the useless
scheme of an emigrant bureau was put forward
with such a flourish of trumpets.

Changes of like character, though, from the
nature of the case, not so immediately promi-
nent, were effected through the entire range
of the Metropolitan Police. A new spirit was in-
fused into the force. Its patrolling operations
became more faithful and more efficient. Police-
men began to see that they really had a head,

and that one wakeful eye and strong, impartial
14

102 Albany Penitentiary.

hand would, sooner or later, reach them, if delin-
quent ; that fidelity to duty and not to party, was
the standard by which they would be measured ;
and that real merit, under such a chief, would be
neither unnoticed nor unrewarded. As a neces-
sary consequence the number of burglaries and
other crimes was much reduced, rowdjdsm was
repressed, and Sunday tippling, which had so
long been the fruitful and irrepressible source of
disorder and crime, was so far restrained, as to
make the day, a day of comparative quiet and
decency.

Nowhere was the complete efficiency of the
police under Gen. Pilsbury more decisively shown
than at the polls. Elections of unusual excite-
ment passed ofi" without furnishing a single item
for the columns of crime. At the choice of muni-
cipal ofl&cers, which then occurred, great trouble
was apprehended and seemingly with reason.
But the regiment which the mayor kept ready at
the armory, had nothing to do. Thanks to the
precaution and the energy of the police chief, the
balloting, even in the worst wards, was conducted
with all the quietness and order of a rural town
meeting.

The results of that election were not so happy.

Albany Penitentiary. 103

Through the ill-timed jealousies of two great
parties, and, as it seems to us, the mistaken ambi-
tion of their leaders, a man obnoxious to a large
portion of the people was elected mayor. During
a previous incumbency, it had been his successful
aim to rule the police. How great and how mis-
chievous such an influence might become, was
seen but too clearly, when it became necessary
to call on the militia to put down the police.
FoUed as Mayor Wood had been, by the creation
of the Metropolitan Police, and by the failure of
all his efforts to reinstate the old force, it was to
be expected that he would try to regain his
former ascendency. So it turned out. He had
been in his seat but a few days, when he asked
the Superintendent "as a personal favor," to
change the officer in command near the City
Hall. As this was not refused, he went a step
further, calling on the Superintendent to detail
twelve men, extraordinary, whose names he fur-
nished, for special duty in the City Hall precinct.
With this demand, Gen. Pilsbury very properly
refused compliance — not only as interfering with
his powers, but as needless in fact and mischiev-
ous in tendency. Indeed, that it was only meant
as an entering wedge, was perfectly clear.

104 Albany Penitentiaet.

The mayor immediately took his grievance
before the police board. What mutual pledges
passed on this occasion between that virtuous
functionary and three of his colleagues can be
known by inference only His vote aided by the
votes of those three gentlemen, deprived the Su-
perintendent of that very power which he had
made the absolute condition of his acceptance.
The most important element of command was
transferred to a committee, who at once con-
sented to all the mayor asked for, and thus did
these officers strike hands with the very man to
whose unprincipled ambition it was owing that
their board had been established, and that they
held places on it.

But for the earnest entreaty of many friends.
Gen. Pilsbury would have resigned immediately.
Meanwhile the matter was discussed in the daily
prints. Among others, the Times, the Post, the
Express, the Journal of Commerce, and the Adver-
tiser, took the part of the Superintendent, show-
ing beyond a doubt the reasonableness of his
demand, and the great importance of retaining
him. A request to that effect, signed by many of
the wealthiest and best citizens, was presented
to the board. It was all in vain. Though three

Albany Penitentiary. 105

other commissioners stood nobly for the right, the
majority persisted, and Gen. Pilsbury retired.-^

While these things were going on in New York,
a new police act was brought before the legislature,
and eventually passed. Among other important
changes, it reduced the number of commissioners
to three. Gen. Pilsbury, much to his surprise,
was appointed one of this commission. Being
convinced, when he saw how it was constituted,
that he could not act on it with comfort or to
advantage, he endeavored to decline it at once.
Urged, however, by the friends who had given
him the office, he consented to qualify and to hold
on for at least a few days. At the first meeting
of the new board, one of the commissioners, with
the aid of another, chose himself president, and
very soon showed that he meant to keep in his
own hands the virtual superintendency and the
entire control of the Metropolitan Police. Gen.
Pilsbury, convinced beyond a doubt, that his first
impression was right, and perceiving that under
the new law, he must relinquish his office at
Albany, if he retained his place as commissioner,
resigned and retired. "Why he had been placed

See Appendix.

106 Albany Penitentiart.

there under such circumstances and in such a
connection, is among the mysteries, which are yet
unrevealed. Finding himself in a false position —
where the principles which had governed his action
through a long and successful career, were to be
ignored, and where his peculiar talents and great
experience were to pass for nothing, he did as
every honorable man would do in his place.

Gen. Pilsbury then returned to Albany where
a long cherished home was open to him ; where
friends were glad to welcome him; where the
duties of a highly important position awaited
him ; where his services had always been appreci-
ated, and he had never been harrassed or foiled
by the selfish schemes of designing politicians.

The event occasioned mutual congratulation
between himself, the Inspectors and officers of the
Penitentiary, and many of the citizens. He ap-
preciated the welcome and the position, and
immediately applied himself, with all his wonted
industry and tact, to extend his own. and the
usefulness of the Penitentiary.

Albany Penitentiary. 107

EMBAERASSHSTG EVENTS — AIST IMPORTANT
CHANGE — AUGMENTED PEOSPERITY.

It will not occasion surprise to any one who
distinctly remembers the sudden outbreak of the
late gigantic rebellion, and its immediate disas-
trous effect on the commercial interests of the
country, especially those involved in the trade
carried on with the southern states, to find that
the year 1861, was one of peculiar trial to the
financial affairs of the Albany Penitentiary.
That crisis occasioned a complete prostration, for
a period, of almost every kind of manufacturing
industry. No person, not even the most shrewd
and experienced, knew what to expect; while
those engaged in the southern trade found them-
selves not only without any thing to do, but
unable to get pay for what they had done.

This was the case with the contractors at the
Penitentiary. The convicts were then, and had
been for a long time before, generally employed
in making negro shoes for the southern market,
and from this business the chief income of the

108 Albany Penitentiary.

Institution was derived, but it almost immedi-
ately failed. "Indeed," said the Superintendent
in his report for that year, "the contractors
found no sales for the shoes on hand, and were
unable to obtain payment for those alread}' sold.
They also found it extremely difficult to procure
stock, and hence were unable by changing the
kind of work to keep the prisoners constantly
employed.

" Under these circumstances it became necessary
to reduce the working time of the convicts to a
half and three-quarters of a day each, or to have
the men at once thrown upon my hands entirely
unemployed. With your concurrence I made
such an arrangement with the contractors, which
continued for several months ; but even with this
reduction of time and wages, one contract for fifty
men was given up."

Another event that heightened the embarrass-
ment of that period was the fact that near one-
half of the convicts then received were drunkards,
who were sentenced for only tvu days, and were
not only such as contractors would not employ,
but a tax on the industry of the Institution.
Indeed more than two-thirds of the whole number
committed that year were on sentences not ex-

Albany Penitentiary. 109

ceeding two months, and were consequently not
inviting to manufacturers disposed to contract for
convict labor.

Such were the adverse financial circumstances
of the Penitentiary for more than the first half
of the year 1861 ; and they occasioned the Su-
perintendent and Inspectors deep concern. But,
as in former instances, the reputation of the
Institution, the untiring diligence of the Superin-
tendent, his attention to every detail, and his
economy in every expenditure, were again at-
tended with success. Before the end of that year
the amount of labor offered was largely in excess
of the number of convicts to be employed, though
it must be said, that the number of men then in
the Institution was thirty less than at the begin-
ning of the year ; and the number under sentence
for three months and upwards, was less than at
any time during the preceding five years. Noi^
withstanding the close of that period found the
Institution not only not in debt, but with a
balance in its favor of |l,048.07, and that with-
out depriving the convicts in the least degree of
comfortable food or clothing.

Owing to the urgent demand for men in the

army and navy this decrease of convicts con-
15

110 Albany Penitentiary.

tinued, so that the number received in 1862 was
five hundred and seventy-four less than in 1861.
" This unprecedented reduction, taken in con-
nection with the short sentences which so great
a proportion of the convicts received, and the
large number of females among them, rendered
it difficult for the Superintendent, during the
larger part of the year, to supply the number of
men, required to fulfill the terms of existing con-
tracts, to say nothing of the new ones ojffered.
Yet these contracts were of the highest pecuniary
importance to the Institution, as afibrding it, not
only then, a suitable description of labor for the
convicts, at reasonable prices, but also the means
of employing the increase of prisoners expected on
the termination of the war."

Just at that time an event occurred which, most
unexpectedly, supplied all the men required, and
greatly heightened the prosperity and usefulness
of the institution. "Early in the summer of
1862 it was found necessary to enlarge the United
States Arsenal in the city of Washington, by
adding to it the adjoining buildings which had
long been used as a Penitentiary for the District
of Columbia. The authorities at Washington,
actuated no doubt by considerations of economy,

Albany Penitentiary. Ill

decided to procure elsewhere quarters for the in-
mates of that establishment, instead of building a
new prison for their confinement."

The Superintendent, ever watchful of opportuni-
ties to further the interests of the Penitentiai-y,
early learned this intention of the general govern-
ment, and hastened to Washington for the purpose
of commending this Institution to the authorities
there. The effort was attended with success.
This Penitentiary was finally adjudged to be the
most eligible place to which to send .those pri-
soners ; and on the twentieth of the ensuing
September, an arrangement was entered into with
the secretary of the department of the interior,
by which one hundred and thirty-one convicts
were transferred from Washington under an order
of the President to this Institution, where they
arrived on the 25th day of the same month.
Four only of these prisoners were females, all the
rest able-bodied men. The terms of their sen-
tences ranged from six months to nineteen years.
They, and others received from the same source,
not only supplied the requisite number of hands
to fulfill the contracts then existing, but enabled
the Superintendent to make others, advantageous
to the Institution. It instantly assumed moreover

112 Albjjn't Pe>t:textiakt.

a different aspect. The men were more intelli-
gent than those previously received ; while this,
with the length of their sentences, afforded greater
hope of usefulness among them.

A few weeks after the arrival of those prisoners
a gentlemen was sent from TTashington, bv the
secretary of the interior, to ^lisit and inspect the
Penitentiary, examine its discipline, the condition
of the prisoners sent there from the District of
Columbia, and their employment.

As this^report was from a disinterested Inspec-
tor, and one acquainted with convict institutions,
it is given as addressed to, the secretary of the
interior.

WashixCtTOX Citt, Xovemher 13, 1862.

Hon. Caleb B. Smith,

Secretar}' of the Interior :
Sir : In comphance with your instructions of

the 29th ultimo, I visited the Penitentiarv of
Albany county, in the state of New York, for the
purpose of ascertaining the condition of the con-
■\-icts who had been transferred to it from the
Penitentiary of the District of Columbia, how they
are kept and subsisted, the character of the disci-
pline, the nature of their employment, and other
incidental and collateral matters.

Albany Penitentiary. 113

Gen. Pilsbuiy, the intelligent and gentlemanly
Superintendent, afforded me every facility in
obtaining the information I desired, and was
anxious that I should thoroughly understand his
system of managing such prisons. With that
view he took me all through the building, and as
we passed along, gave me the amplest and most
satisfactory explanations of everything I saw.

The Penitentiary is eligibly situated about half
a mile from the Capitol, in a lot of twelve acres
of ground set in grass and beautifully undulating,
which belongs to the Institution and prevents the
minds of its inmates from being distracted from
their emplojrment by the hum and bustle of the
city. The building is very imposing in its out-
ward appearance, and in approaching it, the pur-
pose to which it is applied would not likely occur
to a stranger. Its interior arrangements are
appropriate in every respect and adniit of no
improvements. The ventilation is perfect, and
the atmosphere as pure as the oui>door air. The
plan is very simple, but precisely adapted to a
prison. Instead of entering into a detailed expla-
nation, I herewith submit a drawing which will
give a better idea of it than could be derived from
any written description. The most striking fea-

114 Albany Penitentiary.

ture of the establishment is the entire cleanliness
of every department and of the convicts them-
selves.

On entering the workshops, the impression is
produced that they are neat manufacturing esta-
blishments, filled with industrious artisans, who
are working for wages instead of from compulsion
and as a punishment. I walked through the
shops, to and fro, and not an eye was diverted
from the work engaging the attention of the con-
victs, and it is doubtful whether a single indivi-
vidual was conscious of my presence. It can
scarcely be believed that such discipline and sub-
ordination could exist in an establishment of the
kind, and I should be incredulous of the fact had
I not been an eye-witness of it. Strict attention
is paid to the sanitary, and moral and religious
condition of the prisoners. Sickness is of very
rare occurrence, but whenever a convict complains
of being indisposed, he is immediately removed
to a comfortable hospital in the building, where
he receives the. attention of a skillful physician.
Every Sabbath, religious services are held in the
chapel, and all the prisoners, male and female,
attend. The discipline is rigid, but not cruel or
harsh. Every one understands that the rules

Albany Penitentiary. 115

and regulations must be observed, and that the
slightest infraction of them will not be overlooked.
The food is nutritious and wholesome, and all
receive as much as they can consume. It consists
of fresh and salt beef, pork, potatoes and various
other vegetables, bean, pea and rice soups, mush
and molasses, bread, etc. The clothing is comfort-
able and adapted to the seasons. During the cold
weather the building in every department is well
warmed. No conversation is allowed between
the prisoners at any time, and each is required to
attend to his own business and nothing else. The
only employment at present carried on is shoe-
making. They manufacture shoes for women
and children, and for the army. The labor is let
to contractors at a moderate price per day, and
the proceeds go into the general fund for the sup-
port of the Institution. The Superintendent is
paid a liberal compensation and occupies the cen-
tre of the building, which is as comfortable a resi-
dence as any gentleman could desire. His whole
time is devoted to the interest of the Penitentiary,
and he gives such general satisfaction that the
tenure of his ofl&ce is not affected by the muta-
tions of parties. His entire management is, in
my judgment, as perfect as it can be, and from

116 Alkant Penitentiary.

inqiiivy. made elsewhere, 1 learn thai the Albany
Penitentiary is generally regarded as a. model in-
stitution of the kind. I saw all the con\icts from
the Penitentiary of the District of t'olumbia and
conversed freely with some of them. They made
no complaints, other than that the discipline was
more rigid than in the Penitentiarv from which
they had been renio>ed and that they were not
allowed the same privileges they there enjoyed.
So far as I could judge they appeared to be as
contented as could be expected of persons con-
fined in a prison.

The allowance for clothing and traveling ex-
penses home to the convicts on being discharged,
will have to be paid by the government. The
Superintendent wishes you to lix and advise him
of the sum you may deem proper for that pur-
pose. Less than ten dollars would not answer.
It is customary in that, and I understand in simi-
lar institutions, to make such an allowance. Some
of the citizens of Albany were apprehensive that,
on the expiration of the terms for which they
wero sentenced, the prisoners from this district,
would be turned loose upon their comnnuiity ;
but. on being assured that the governn\eut would
furnish tliem with the means of couveving them

Aluany Penitentiary. 117

to th(! places to which they belong, and that the
iSuperintendent would start them on theii- way
hoirn;, this source of di,s(juietude was removed and
then; i.s now no oljjectioii to our prisoners being
W'mL there.

J fi<!rewith return the; letters addrc,s,s(!d to you
by (U'.n. Pilshury, which accompanied your letter
of instructions to me.

V(;ry respectfully, your obedient servant,
Jno. B. Jjlake,
all InHpccioi- of tlio I'eiiiteritiary

lor iiie District of Oolumljiu.

From that tiriH; this Penitentiary has been re-
{•o'^n'i'/A'A as, 7'///^ UvUcd Slal/ifi iMtdlcvllaTi] for the
l)lnl,rh'l, of C'olii;niJ)l(i; a.ni] convicts have Ix'cjii
recoived therefrom.

As might (k! expected the result o\' that year's
lidjor was much moi'<! encouraging than any one
ventured t<j anticipate at its comnieiuMnrHmt, and
[)r(!H(!nted a [)ala,r](!(! in favor of the Jnsiitution, of
$;i,015.l;i, a,n(l its financial prosperity has ever
siiiee been uninterrupted and increasing, and has
grea,t]y <;ontril)nted to its material improvement.

11)

118 Albany Penitentiaey.

EFLAEGEMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS.

It has been before stated that the Penitentiary,
when it passed from the hands of the commission-
ers appointed by the legislature for its erection,
had one hundred and fifty-four cells, and that
provision was made for their increase as neces-
sity might require. Though the commissioners
did not then consider the building finished,
as it should have been, still they did not expect
such an early call for enlargement as was made.
In the very first report of the Inspectors after
speaking of the two work shops which had that
year been erected, one hundred and fifty by
thirty-two feet each, they added: "It is proper,
however, to mention that in consequence of the
rapid influx of prisoners, it will soon be, and in
fact, already is necessary to erect more cells for
their accommodation."

This necessity soon compelled attention. In his
third annual report to the Inspectors, the Super-
intendent said : " The whole number of prisoners

Albany Penitentiary. 119

received the past year has been six hundred and
twenty-seven, being one hundred and twenty-nine
more than was received during the previous year.
" Thus it will be seen that the number of pri-
soners, both male and female, has been greater
than the number of cells for their accommodation.
There are but one hundred cells for the males
and forty for the females. It has, therefore, been
necessary during the whole of this period to place
in a large number of instances, and habitually,
two prisoners in one cell. From thirty to sixty
of the cells have been thus constantly occupied.
This practice is detrimental to the system adopted,
subverts and counteracts every effort to benefit
those thus confined, and but for constant watch-
fulness and vigilance on the part of the subordi-
nate ofiicers, would be destructive of all discipline.
It is practicable to construct twenty-four cells in
the area or space at the north end of the male
wing, but it would not make the additional num-
ber necessary, besides it would interfere with and
destroy not only the appearance of the hall, but
lessen the space for light and air. If the autho-
rities should decide not to have this space filled
up with cells, as it ought not to be, an extension
of the wing is necessary. An addition of fifty feet

120 Albany Penitentiary.

to the building, will give room for eighty cells,
which would make in all one hundred and seventy-
six cells in the block or wing, for the accommoda-
tion of male prisoners. The expense or cost of an
addition of this description, will be about $8,500.

" It will also be seen that an addition of forty
cells is necessary for the separate confinement of
the female prisoners ; this additional number can
be erected and fitted up in the north wing at a
cost of about |2,500."

Sanctioned by the joint authorities of the city
and the county, this alteration was effected the fol-
lowing year. The south wing of the building in
which the mens' cells are found, was extended
fifty feet, and eighty additional cells constructed
therein. In the north wing, or the womens' side,
forty more cells were built. The whole capacity
of the building was then one hundred and seventy-
six for male, and eighty for female prisoners, to
which, in case of emergency, sixteen more in
octagonal towers could be added exclusive of the
hospital room and beds.

In their next report the Inspectors said:
"These alterations have effected a considerable
change in the Penitentiary, especially in its inter-
nal arrangements. The interior of the male

Albany Penitentiary. 121

wing, imposing m appearance before, is now (if
such a word is proper here), a magnificent hall,
replete with every thing conducive to the health
and safe keeping of its occupants. It is one hun-
dred and fifty feet in length, fifty feet in width
and thirty feet in height, with cells sufficient, as
before mentioned, for nearly two hundred men.
The Inspectors have visited many celebrated
prisons, but in none of them have seen any thing
that can vie in appearance with the hall for
male convicts in the Albany Penitentiary. Its
superiority over other establishments of the kind
consists in the width and height of the corridors
surrounding the cells, its greater light and unu-
sual spaciousness, its perfect ventilation, freeness
from humidity, and its general air of cheerfulness
and comfort. In these particulars it is certainly
before any other prison the Inspectors have seen.
" The general plan of the edifice admits of addi-
tions from time to time, as they become necessary,
almost ad libitum. Room for thousands of con-
victs can be made without injury to its archi-
tectural appearance. This was a prominent idea
and object of the commissioners and the Superin-
tendent, who planned and built the Penitentiary.
They intended that so long as a prison was needed.

122 Albany Penitentiaet.

this should be a prison for all time to come. Build-
ing on building can be extended over the whole
area of twelve acres."

The same year an "additional and copious
supply of water from the public hydraulic works
was introduced and distributed to every necessary
part of the buildings and premises. It was con-
veyed from the city conduits in Lydius street,
that being the nearest point from which it could
be obtained. The pipe necessary for this purpose
and for distribution throughout the establishment,
is upwards of two thousand, one hundred feet, or
more than one-third of a mile in length. Al-
though the quality of the water previously used
was excellent and the supply adequate, except on
occasions of extreme drought, yet the apprehension
and experience of want, at seasons when large
quantities were most needed and when most
danger of failure existed, made its acquisition an
important addition to the comforts of the inmates
of the Penitentiary." As a means of preservation
from fire, its possession is invaluable.

The commissioners appointed by the legislature
to build the Penitentiary, made a reservation and
proviso in the certificate of completion filed in
the county clerk's office, in favor of filling up (lie

Albany Penitentiaet. 123

uneven and broken ground on the west and north
of tlie building, so that it might at a future time
be finished according to the original design. The
Inspectors, therefore, in their fifth annual report
called the special attention of the county authori-
ties to this need, and said the time had come
when the work could no longer be delayed. They
expressed the opinion that the work might be
done, and a suitable foundation wall for extending
the northern wing be built for about $8,000, and
they proposed that if the supervisors would order
the execution of the work, and make provision
for one-half of this sum, the other half should be
furnished from the earnings of the Institution.
The proposal was accepted, and the performance
of the work was ordered.

But it was found much more difficult, protracted
and expensive, than was anticipated. This was
owing to deep subterranean springs in the ground,
which occasioned instability and a frequent slid-
ing of the earth thrown in to fill it up. The
difficulties were eventually removed by the use of
an immense quantity of timber for docking and
piles, by building a wall about seven feet high,
and one hundred and fifty in length, and by
depositing there about one hundred thousand cubic

124 Albany Penitentiary.

yards of clay and soil. The work took several
years for its aceomplishment, and besides the
appropriation of $3,500 made for its execution by
the county, it took from the earnings of the Peni-
tentiary $6,817.08, exclusive of the extensive and
long continued labor of the convicts.

The solidity of this work having been tested
by a trial of twelve months, the Inspectors in
their report for 1860 said: "The embankment
seems now to be thoroughly solid and permanent,
and is, in our judgment, fit for the extension of
the northern wing of the prison and for the erec-
tion of the yard walls on that side, in accordance
with the original plan, and in architectural sym-
metry with the southern portion of the edifice,
whenever the joint board shall authorize the
same. A strong necessity exists for the early
completion of this design. The Penitentiary has
already often been over-crowded, and the number
of commitments is annually increasing. By the
additions referred to, the capacity of the Prison
will not only be greatly enlarged, but its security
and efficiency for self-support will be much
enhanced."

Notwithstanding this suggestion the board of
supervisors did not then authorize the execution

Albany Penitentiary. 125

of the work. The consequence was such incon-
venience and loss to the Institution that the Su-
perintendent in his next report to the Inspectors
called again their attention thereto. He said :
"We labor under much disadvantage for the want
of store-rooms and other buildings. Every similar
institution erected after the Albany model, has
been entirely finished before its occupation, with
Avails enclosing the 3-ards, spacious shops, store-
rooms, barns, drying rooms, etc., while here
there is no wall around the female yard, and
no room for storage except in the cellars. In
consequence of this want of accommodation for
storage of manufactured articles and stock, we
have suffered serious pecuniary damage in not
being able to obtain such contracts for the labor
of the convicts as could otherwise have been
secured.

" We have no carriage-house or stable, nor have
we any conveniences for drying the clothing of
the prisoners during bad weather or in the winter
season; and having no wall around the north
wing, the female prisoners are much exposed to
public view and require constant watching to pre-
vent escapes. The property of the Institution is

also exposed to fire and theft.
17

126 Albany Penitentiary.

" The out-buildings (mere sheds) which were
put up for temporary use, are old and unfit for the
purposes for which they are needed. By the ori-
ginal plan of the Penitentiary, the accommodations
above referred to were all provided for, but for a
long time, the unsettled state of the land on the
north side of the main buildings prevented the
erection of the necessary additions. That impedi-
ment was, as you are aware, completely removed
more than a year ago, and it is a matter of regret
that the appropriation required and asked for by
the Inspectors and Superintendent at the last
annual joint meeting, was not granted, for many
of the conveniences named and so necessary,
might, by this time, have been secured ; besides
which it would have enabled me to have employed
on the work a portion of those prisoners who have
been frequently idle during the year.

"The additions to the buildings are necessary
also to furnish a larger number of cells, and I
venture to hope that the board of supervisors will
adopt the recommendations of the Inspectors, and
will make the necessary provision to finish the
Penitentiarj-, especially when the disadvantages
under which the Institution labors for want of the
improvements named, in carrying out effectually

Albany Penitentiary. 127

the objects and purposes for which it was esta-
blished is considered."

Convinced that the work could no longer be
safely delayed, the joint authorities then acceded
to the request, and provided for its execution. At
their meeting in December, 1861, they passed the
following resolutions :

"Resolved, That the Superintendent of the Peni-
tentiary, under the advice and direction of the
Inspectors thereof, is hereby directed and autho-
rized to construct an extension of the northerly
wing, and to build and complete the northerly and
westerly yard walls of the Penitentiary, in cor-
respondence and in symmetery with that of the
southern wing, and the yard walls on that side of
the establishment, during the next year (1862),
provided the expense of such addition and improve-
ments do not exceed $12,000.

"Resolved, That the board of supervisors be
requested to make such provision for the payment
of the foregoing expense, as shall seem to it best
and most expedient."

These improvements were soon after commenced,
and their completion gave the Institution, in a
good degree, the accommodation it had so long
needed. An addition of fifty feet was made to the

12S Albany PENiTEXXLiET.

north wing of the main building, which aflbrded
thirty-six cells, besides eight rooms in the octagon
towers. Immediately over these cells, a fine, well
lighted work room, fifty feet square, was built for
female convicts, which was greatly needed, and
proved a great comfort to those employed therein.

In the rear of the north wing, a building, one
storv in height, was at the same time erected.
This is one hundred and seventy feet long by
twenty-six feet in width, and contains rooms for
washing, ironing, drying, and other laundry pur-
poses : also a fine store room seventy-five feet long,
with a cellar of the same size. These accommo-
dations greatly increased the comfort of the
prisoners and others, and were a great saving to
the lustitution. Tlie whole sum expended on
them was 812,436.79. all of which was paid out of
the earnings of the Penitentiary. Had the work
been done two years before, when first proposed
to the county authorities, it would not have cost
more than two-thirds of this sum, for both material
and labor could then have been secured at much
lower prices.

These improvements did not complete what was
necessary and proposed to be done, consequently
the Inspectors urged the erection of a stable,

Albaxy Pexitentiary. 129

wagon house, a new fence, and the continuance of
a wall around the north end of the Prison. And
they recommended the passage of a resolution by
the joint board, authorizing the Superintendent,
with their advice and approval, to make such
additions and improvements to the Penitentiary
buildings, as may, from time to time, be found
necessary, such work to be paid for out of the
funds of the Institution. This recommendation
was cordially received, and the following resolu-
tion was unanimously adopted :

'•' Besolred, That the Superintendent of the Peni-
tentiary be and he is hereby authorized, with the
advice and approval of the Inspectors, to make,
from time to time, such additions and improve-
ments to the Penitentiary buildings and grounds
as may be necessary, provided that all such im-
provements or additions shall be paid for out of
the surplus earnings of said Penitentiary, and
without creating any debt against the county of
Albany."

The following year, 1864, the wooden stables,
carriage house and sheds, which had been for some
time unfit for use, were replaced by substantial
and convenient brick structures. The buildings
erected the preceding year were finished and fur-

130 Albany Penitentiary.

nished. The laundry was supplied with all the
needed apparatus for washing, drying, and ironing
the bedding and clothing of the convicts, at an
immense saving of labor, and the exterior of the
main building, including the roof, was all painted.
This involved an expenditure from the funds of
the Penitentiary of a little over five thousand
dollars. But though several other permanent
improvements were needed, the Superintendent
deemed it wise to delay their execution because
of a decrease in the number of prisoners, the
increased cost of provisions, materials and labor.

It was found in 1865 that the urgent demand
for another work shop for the male prisoners could
no longer be postponed. It was imperative. The
number of hands to be employed could not be
accommodated, and the contracts could not be
fulfilled. Consequently with the opening spring
the erection of a commodious two story brick
building was commenced at the west end of the
Penitentiary inclosure. This, during the summer,
was completed and furnished, and is one of the
most valuable improvements ever made to the
Institution. It is one hundred and thirty-four
feet in length, and thirty-four feet, eight inches in
width. At the north end of this shop, a bath

Albany Penitentiary. i;il

house was at the same time built, which is fur-
nished with seven tubs for the accommodation of
the prisoners, and which are weekly used by them.
Iti the upper story ol' this building improved accom-
modation was provided for guards and other officers,
whose constant presence there is indispensable.
This building with the extension of the yard
walls, etc., involved an expenditure of |12,859.44.

Prior to the summer of 1<S()5, tlieri; was for a
long time greatly needed increased kitchen room
for baking and other domestic purposes ; also a
larger hospital for the required accommodation of
the sick ; and a chapel as large again as that then
used. In consequence of this latter want, the
Chaplain had for several years conducted two, and
sometimes three i-cligious services every Sabbath
morning, the first with the men, the second with
the women, and the third, when able, with those
who could not be admitted to the first.

It was, however, for some time a serious question
how these necessary accommodations could be
secured. At length it was determined to extend
the central part of the Penitentiary building
forty feet at the rear from the bottom to the top ;
raise the ro(jf from the front to the rear, and
finish it in French style.

Vyi Ai.BAyr Pexitzvtiabt.

This more than doubled the ~ize of the kitchen
room, added forty feet to the room for the accom-
modation of the subordinate officers : forty feet to
the hospital: made the chapel more than twice the
i^n.rh it was before. Tvith the addition of a uallery
for the accommodation of the women, and ?ave
another story to the front part of the central build-
ing. It is not easy to estimate the improvement
this alteration made. The male hospital is now
about seventy-two feet long, and twenty-three feet
wide: and the female hospital with adjoining
rooms are near the ;ame dimensions. The chapel
is seventy-- ix feet long, forty-eight feet wide, and
with the gallery will seat about six hundred per-
son-. It is really a fine room for v jr-liip. well
ventilated, neatly fornisLel. and afford- all the
accommodation needed. The entire cost of this
alteration was defrayed by the earnings of the
Penitentiary.

It is now proposed to make, when the funds of
the ]iLst:iit:on will allow, a considerable addition
to the win,- of the main building. This also is
greatly needed, for there has Ion. been an insuffi-
cient number of cells for the proper ac voynmoda-
tion of the prisoners. When this i- done, there
will, apparently, be little left in these particulars

Albaxy Pexitextiart. 133

to be desired ; and both the Superintendent and
authorities may congratulate themselves on the
great object secured. The entire building will
then stand as a monument to his practical
wisdom, exclusive devotion, indomitable perse-
verance, and unblemished integrity; and as an
example of their readiness to trust a faithful
public servant, and to do what is required for
the public good.

18

134 Albany Penitentiary.

COMMITMENTS AISTD DISCHARGES.

It is necessary to a complete history of the
Albany Penitentiary, that some particulars should
be given respecting those who have been sent
there during the eighteen years of its existence.
The following statement will show how many
were received in each year, their sex, age, educa-
tion, habits of life, social state and nativity. It
will also indicate, generally, the character of their
crimes, the terms of their sentences, and the man-
ner of their discharge. From it will be seen that
near one-third of the whole number could not read;
more than one-half could not write, and not far
from ninety out of every hundred were intempe-
rate. But fewer still, it is believed, had regularly
attended religious worship. While this statement
will suggest many valuable thoughts to the patriot
and the philanthropist, it will be found essential
to the formation of a correct estimate of the
management and results of the Institution.

Albany Penitentiary.

135

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136 Albany Penitentiary.

Grimes, Sentences, Discharges.
CRIMES.

Crimes against the person, - - - 2,484

" " property, - - - 3,747

" " the government, - - 366

" " public order, - - 10,177

16,774

SENTENCE S.

Ten days and less than three months,

- 7,400

Less than six months, ...

4,811

Six months and less than one year.

- 2,728

One year and less than two years,

1,097

Two years to life, - - - . ■

738

16,774

DISCHARGES.

By order of Court or Magistrate,

365

Pardoned by the Governor,

333

Paid fines, ......

611

Died, ---.-.

149

Transferred to Alms House, -

22

" Lunatic Asylum,

8

" House of Refuge,

1

" State Prison,

4

Carried forward, - 1,493

Albany Penitentiary. 137

Brought forward,

1,498

Pardoned

by the President, -

134

Disch.arge(

i by order of President,

41

a

Sec'y of War, -

179

a

" " Navy,

37

a

habeas corpus.

17

a

certiorari, - - -

58

Escaped while at work on the grounds

outside,

5

Discharged by expiration of sentence.

14,289

16,253

In confinement October 31, 1866, -

521

16,774
In the first table a summary is given of the
nativity of the Penitentiary convicts, but, as only
six thousand, seven hundred and sixty-one, or little
more than two-fifths, were born in the United
States, it will be interesting to know from whence
the others came. The records of the Institution
supply this information.

Born in Ireland, . . . _ 7,571
" England, - - - - 666

" Scotland, - - - - 391
" Wales, - - - - 23

Carried forward, - 8,651

138 Albany Penitentiaet.

Brought forward,

8,651

I in Canada and

adjoining pro-

vinces, -

.

511

a

Germany,

-

632

u

France, -

.

104

iC

Italy, - -

.

24

u

Switzerland,

-

16

a

Belgium,

-

15

a

Holland, -

.

12

u

Prussia, . -

_

8

iC

Poland, -

-

8

a

Spain, -

.

5

a

Sweden, -

.

4

it

Denmark, -

-

3

a

Portugal, -

-

2

a

Hungary,

-

2

u

East Indies,

-

2

u

West Indies,

-

2

u

Mexico, -

-

2

n

Cuba, -

.

1

a

Austria, -

.

1

a

Persia,

-

1

a

Africa,

-

1

a

At sea and places unknown, -
Total,

5

10,013

Albany Penitentiary. 139

Thus it will be seen that, excepting the native
born, many of whom were the children of foreign
parents, those convicts have come from twenty-
five different countries, and from the four quarters
of the globe.

It will be observed by the second table that
one hundred and forty-nine of the sixteen thou-
sand, seven hundred and seventy-four persons
confined in the Penitentiary have died during the
eighteen years of its existence. This is less than
one per cent of the whole number, a fact which is
certainly noteworthy when it is remembered that
a very large number of the men and women who
have gone there were reduced by intemperance
and poverty to great debility, and not a few were
the victims of disease. Still the proportion would
have been less but for special causes which have
operated, more or less, during the last four years.
These were the prevalence, in the early part of
1863, of the small-pox, and again in 1866, the
small pox and typhus fever, both of which were
brought here from Washington, and which proved
specially fatal among the colored prisoners. The
skillful physician, who has had charge of the In-
stitution from its origin, said in his report for
that year : "Hitherto the Penitentiary has been.

140 Albany Penitentiaey.

to a remarkable degree, fortunate, in respect to
the health of its inmates, and the visitation of the
more malignant forms of disease. But during the
last year we have had not only a large increase of
sickness, but many deaths. The number of con-
victs who have died during the year is forty-three ;
of whom twenty-nine were colored, and fourteen
whites. Thirty-six of these were males and seven
females.

"The condition of the colored people on arriving
here was such that the larger number required
immediate medical treatment; and nearly all
were affected by languor and debility. Under
such circumstances, typhus and small-pox, of
course, presented their worst aspects. Among
them both diseases were marked by a degree of
malignity before unknown in my experience.
And this class of patients, with only occasional
exceptions, almost on the first attack fell into a
state of exhaustion, from which it was extremely
difficult to restore them."

It must also be added as another reason for
the increased mortality during the last four years,
that a considerable number of the other prisoners
who were in the army, and served in the southern
states during the war, returned, enfeebled by

Albany Penitentiary. 141

intemperance and disease, subject to chronic
diarrhea, and pulmonary complaints which, in
several cases, issued in death. In view of these
facts it will appear that the sanitary condition of
the Penitentiary has been permanently good.

19

142 Albany Penitentiart.

RECEIPTS A]S^D EXPEKDITURES.

A JUST estimate of the results of the Peniten-
tiary in reference to these particulars cannot be
formed without regarding the hinderance which
has continually existed to greater financial success
in the very large number of short term prisoners
who have been sent there. This has been so
influential as to threaten at times not only an
absorption of all the earnings of the Institution,
but a serious draft on the county treasury. And
the belief is entertained that but for the execu-
tive skill displayed in the management of its
afiairs, this evil would have actually occurred.

It will be seen by the second table in the pre-
ceding chapter that of the sixteen thousand, seven
hundred and seventy-four prisoners sent to the
Penitentiary, there were seven thousand, and four
hundred sentenced for terms varying from ten
days to three months. Those, it must be remem-
bered, were for the most part convicts whom the
contractors would not accept. Consequently ex-

Albany Penitentiary. 143

cept as they were needed to labor on the building
or the ground around, they were a tax on the
industry of the Institution.

This hinderance has been deeply felt and
deplored by all concerned in promoting its effi-
ciency. The Inspectors repeatedly called the
attention of the joint authorities to it. In their
report for 1852 they said : " That state prisons
have sometimes shown a self-supporting ability,
is not so remarkable ; hut, that the inmates of an
establishment like the Albany Penitentiary, com-
posed- of the vilest dregs of society, the rakings of
the gutter and the brothel, the profligate, and even
the diseased — more fit for the hospital than a
work house — destitute, half naked, and sentenced
often for a term scarcely sufficient to work off the
last debauch — who must be fed and nursed,
and sent forth again, perhaps in a few days, fully
clothed — that such a class, so circumstanced, can
be managed in such a way as to rid community
from the burden of their maintenance is certainly
a wonderful achievement in political economy."

In 1855 they said : " Since the enactment of
what is termed the prohibitory law, a new crime
denominated 'Public Intoxication,' punishable
by ten days' imprisonment, has been instituted;

144 Albany Penitentiaet.

the practical ejffect of which has been detrimental
to the pecuniary interests of the Penitentiary.
With the law itself the Inspectors have nothing
to do, whatever their individual opinion of its
merits or demerits may be, it is not their purpose
or office to discuss the matter here, except as this
feature of it affects the interests of the Peni-
tentiary. Since the 9th day of July last, seventy-
four persons have been sentenced to imprisonment
in the Penitentiary, for ten days each, for the
crime of 'public intoxication,' and to this num-
ber can be added nearly as many more for the
same offense, whose term was extended to one
month by the magistrates committing them, for
reasons unknown to the Inspectors, but which are
doubtless right and proper.

" Some of these as individuals, and all of them as
a class, were formerly committed as vagrants and
disorderly persons, for periods varying from three
to six months. Now they mostly come as ten-day
men, in a filthy, ragged state, merely to be cleansed
and clothed. Before they are able to perform any
remunerating work, and by the time the effects of
their drunkenness are somewhat worn off, their
terms expire, and they leave the prison, usually
carrying with them some of the public property

Albany Penitentiary. 145

in the shape of clothing, for they can not be
decently discharged otherwise. This is a tax
upon the Penitentiary funds without the slightest
equivalent.

"Formerly, this class of persons could and did
earn something to compensate for their sub-
sistence. Now, they not only fail to earn any-
thing, but have to be lodged, fed and attended by
the physician, and then cost the county more or
less, besides, according to the condition of their
wardrobe.

The following year they spoke again in these
plain terms : " Not less than two hundred persons
have been sentenced to confinement in the Peni-
tentiary during the last year for the crime of
public intoxication, for periods of ten, and
twenty to thirty days each. Somehow or other,
they come in in droves, in the beginning of each
month, when the courts are held, and their terms
of imprisonment mostly expire before the month
is out, and so it goes on over and over again.
Were the average struck daily instead of monthly
the problem would at once be solved. Not one
of these persons can earn a cent, but have to
be taken care of at the public expense. No law
could have been framed, which could be worse in

146 Albany Penitentiaey.

its practical effects, than that which sends these
people to the Penitentiary. While it incarcerates
them ten days in a prison for drunkenness, it
neither does them nor any one else any good what-
ever. The time is entirely too short for cure or
reformation, and as a matter of pecuniary economy,
the county might rather place a five dollar bill in
the hand of every one of these convicts and tell
them to go about their business, than to take
them into the Penitentiary."

As the number of such convicts continued to
increase, the Inspectors said in 1857 : " Three
hundred and nineteen persons have been sentenced
to the Penitentiary during the past year, for terms
of ten days each, for the crime of public intoxi-
cation, costing the county, while there, at least
fifteen hundred dollars in cash, without earning
one cent, or being benefited themselves in the
least degree thereby. This is, in fact, turning it
into an inebriate hospital, without any of the
advantages that such an Institution might be
supposed to have, for the law discharges the
patient before the slightest cure can be effected,
or even before it» can be attempted. Some of
these individuals have been received and dis-
charged eight and ten times during the year, and

Albany Penitentiaey. 147

scores of them have been in and out from three to
six times each."

Of the one thousand, one hundred and fifty pri-
soners received in 1858, four hundred were sent for
ten days; a tax of |2,000 for that single year. Of
one thousand, two hundred and seven received in
1859, five hundred and thirty-seven were of this
class; and in 1860, eight hundred and twenty-three,
out of one thousand, four hundred and eighty-four.

At this time the "hinderances and difficulties"
thus occasioned, had become so burdensome and
threatening, that the Inspectors, in a very decided
and earnest manner, told the joint authorities that
if they were continued a change of a permanent
character in the Institution would he required.
They said : " The operation of this law perverts
the object for which the Penitentiary was esta-
blished. Instead of being as it was, and should
ever be, a penal and reformatory Institution, we
fear it will become a mere asylum for drunkards,
not for their cure or reformation, but simply a
place affording them time for recuperation at the
public expense and to enable them to sleep off" the
effects of one debauch in order immediately to
enter upon another. Eight hundred and twenty-
three cases of drunkenness, subject (according to

148 Albany Ppnitentiart.

the present practice) to confinement in the Peni-
tentiary, mostly for terms of ten days each, have
occurred during the past year; being more
than one-half of the whole number of prisoners
received during that period, and greater than
the whole number of commitments to the Prison
in any year previous to the passage of the law
referred to. During the first year after the
enactment of that law, viz: in 1855, the com-
mitments to the Penitentiary for the crime of
public intoxication — the penalty, a fine of ten
dollars or imprisonment for ten days — were
seventy-four; 1856, two hundred; 1857, three
hundred and forty-three; 1858, four hundred;
1859, five hundred and thirty-seven; 1860, eight
hundred and twenty-three.

"Comment is unnecessary. These are the facts,
and when it is understood that a prisoner sen-
tenced to the Penitentiary for a period less than
three months can not earn sufficient for his own
maintenance, or derive any personal or moral
benefit whatever, the difficulties of which we
have spoken will be very apparent.

" Nor is this all. A continuous succession of
these convicts enters the Penitentiary, generally
in a filthy state, often covered with vermin, from

Albany Penitentiary. 149

which there is scarcely time to relieve them dur-
ing their brief stay. Thus, besides the cost of
their food, clothes and lodging, the means of the
Penitentiary must also be used to procure and
pay extra attendants for this special service.
The time of the physician is also severely taxed.
He states in his report that he has treated one
hundred cases of delirium tremens among this
class of prisoners during the year. The discipline
too of the prison is embarrassed and vfeakened,
for these people can not be placed in the dormi-
tories occupied by the other convicts, nor in the
work shops (even if they could be employed
there), or the establishment, in spite of every
effort, would be overrun with vermin. Indeed
the only annoyance of that nature ever experi-
enced in the Penitentiary, has been introduced by
this description of convicts. If the existing
practice in regard to cases of this kind, is to con-
tinue, separate and distinct quarters of ?k 'perma-
nent character will become necessary for their
accommodation . "

A glance at these statements is sufficient to
convince every individual that the reception of
so many prisoners for such short terms must not

only have caused great inconvenience, care and

20

150

Albany Penitentiary.

labor, but have materially lessened financial pros-
perity. Notwithstanding, signal success in this
particular, has been realized, beyond indeed that
of any other penal institution of the kind in this
country or in Europe.

The following statement will show the annual
earnings and expenditures of the Penitentiary
from its commencement, to October 31, 1866, the
close of its eighteenth year :

Earnings. Expenditures.

$5,135 90 $8,896 83

9,810 51 10,261 42

12,1^1 99 11,138 92

16,595 71 14,285 65

18,117 18 15,038 12

16,300 42 14,755 20

18,174 25 15,587 72

18,345 98 15,167 94

21,098 25 18,945 49

8,446 85 18,434 36

18,119 06 13,562 45

18,387 90 14,316 71

15,343 33 14,295 26

18,176 30 14,661 17

42,048 82 24,524 60

53,926 44 33,552 99

67,648 32 46,268 28

76,975 32 52,562 83

For year ending

October 31,

1849,

a a

1850,

a li

1851,

a a

1852,

a a

1853,

a a

1854,

(C a

1855,

ic a

1856,

a ic

1857,

a ii

1858,

a u

1859,

a ic

1860,

a i<

1861,

a a

1862,

a ii

1863,

il iC

1864,

a ' ii

1865,

ii a

1866,

Albany Penitentiary. 151

Total earnings in eighteen years, |454,802 53
" expenditures, - - - 356,253 94

Net balance, - - - - |98,548 59

To leave the financial results of the Peniten-
tiary at this point would neither be satisfactory
nor right, for they further indicate an advantage
to the county of Albany which may justly occa-
sion gratulation and pride. When its establish-
ment was first proposed, its advocates thought
that if after a few years it met its own expenses,
in addition to the care and board of the prisoners
from this county, a great object would be achieved,
and when this was accomplished the Inspectors
justly congratulated the joint authorities on the
fact. But the Institution has long since gone
beyond this and has been a source of accruing
wealth to the county.

Mr. Pruyn and his associate Inspectors esti-
mated that the building including the land, origin-
ally cost the county |50,000. not reckoning the
labor of the convicts who were employed in the
work ; if to this amount is added, grants since
made to meet deficiencies in income in 1849,
1850, and 1858; also, to make improvements in
buildings and land, and to pay the salary of the

152 Albany Penitentiaet.

Superintendent, who, from the first, has been a
county officer, $75,000, which is supposed to be
beyond the sum, then the entire cost of the whole
to the county, with all the property belonging
thereto, is $125,000.

Now what has the county received in return ?
The following will show :

First, It has had kept and boarded, from No-
vember 1, 1848, to October 31, 1866, eleven
thousand six hundred and forty-two prisoners for
the average term of eight weeks, which is a low
estimate, at $1.25 per week (the price paid to
the sheriff of the county before the Penitentiary
was built), $109,143.75.

Second, It has been saved one-third additional
estimated expense, which must have been incurred
for medical attendance, salaries of ofl&cers, im-
provements and repairs of buildings, $29,105.

Third, It has the Penitentiary land and build-
ings, which are estimated to be worth at the very
lowest sum, $150,000.

Fourth, It has property belonging thereto
comprising prison furniture, fuel, oil, horses,
carriages, bedding and clothing, provisions and
stores of different kinds, stock, tools, machi-
nery, the apparatus of the whole establishment.

Albany Penitentiary. 153

debts and cash on hand, the value of all which
was, October 31, 1866, |80,4 74.27.

Total, -■ - - - $368,723 02
Amount of county expenditure, 125,000 00

Present balance in favor of the

county, _ - - - $243,723 02

We repeat the words of the Inspectors, uttered
several years ago: "Leaving all moral influences
and effects entirely out of the question, and view-
ing it only as a simple financial matter, the whole
project has been a perfect success, and it is doubt-
ful if any municipal enterprise here, or any where
else, has ever equaled it, or can show similar
results."

154 Albany Penitentiary.

SEVERANCE FROM POLITICS.

It has been truthfully said that : "One feature
in the administration of the Albany Penitentiary
merits special mention and universal imitation.
No political consideration, no merely party ques-
tion or motive is allowed the slightest weight
in the appointments to office, or in the conduct of
the Institution. The total exclusion of party
politics from the management of the Peniten-
tiary, and personal fitness for the duty in every
appointee, were principles, 'settled and resolved
upon by the commissioners, before a stone of the
edifice was laid.' These views were adopted and
fully carried out by the Inspectors, and also by
the larger board of supervisors. This was the
main cause of their great success." The correct-
ness of these assertions has been substantiated by
the entire history of the Institution.

One of the first acts of the commissioners ap-
pointed by the legislature to build the Peniten-
tiary was to decide "that party politics should have

Alb ANT Penitentiary, 155

no influence whatever with either of them in the
execution of their duties, and to this resolution
they rigorously adhered, until they delivered up
their trust, on the completion of the work.
When it is understood that the majority of the
commission was then politically in opposition to a
very large majority in the board of supervisors,
and in the common council, and that they were
likely to remain in that relative position for many
years ; and that they were clothed with absolute
extraordinary power, rendering them entirely
independent of either of these bodies, it is evident
their sole object in adopting this course, was the
general good irrespective of party considerations."
Having made this decision they frankly stated
the same to the supervisors and added, "that
without their full approbation and assent, they
could not consent to retain the ofiice to which
they had been appointed by the legislature of the
state." On the receipt of this communication,
the board of supervisors unanimously resolved,
"that they have the fullest confidence in the com-
missioners appointed by the legislature in relation
to the erection of a Penitentiary." Thus sus-
tained, they entered with cheerfulness on their
work, and with a rigid determination to maintain

156 Albany Penitentiakt.

their purpose. They said, reviewing their course
of action: "The political preferences of no indi-
vidual who aided in the construction of the
Penitentiary, was ever inquired into or cared for.
It was sufficient alone to know that his terms
and services hest subserved the interests of the
county and the object in view. In their first
report, and before any particular individual was
thought of, they advise in substance, that the
officer placed at the head of the Penitentiary,
should be put beyond the reach of removal on
mere political grounds, that he ought to be
assured that he holds his office by quite a differ-
ent tenure than mere political favor, and, that
however unpopular or unpalatable such a recom-
mendation may be with warm political partisans,
it is nevertheless essential to the success of the
enterprise."

But for the broad and practical recognition
of this principle the services of Amos Pilsbury
could not have been secured, for his previous
experience and matured judgment had assured
him of its essential importance.

When in the year 1818, the Institution passed
into the hands of the Inspectors, they resolved
that the same rule should be inflexibly main-

Albany Penitentiary. 157

tained. They truly said in their report for 1855 :
'•Among the hundreds of subordinates who have
received appointments from them, or the Super-
intendent, they have never known the political
sentiments of a single individual; fitness and
capacity were the only requisites necessary.

"The Inspectors in all their reports have con-
stantly kept this great leading rule uppermost
before the county government and the public
mind, as the sole cause and foundation on which
the success of the Penitentiary must rest. As
old members, fully satisfied of the value and cor-
rectness of this policy, retired from office, and
their places in the board of supervisors were
occupied by new members, by whom this funda-
mental principle was supposed notHo be so fully
realized, the Inspectors reiterated their opinions,
until they in turn became sensible of their truth
and importance."

In anticipation of appointing a Superintendent
on the resignation of Gen. Pilsbury, they said :
"At the risk of being thought prolix and perhaps
unnecessarily fastidious on this point, the Inspect-
ors repeat what was said in their fourth annual
report, made December 16th, 1852.

"In all that constitutes excellence in a prison,
21

158 Albany Penitentiary.

both morally and physically considered, so far, as
the Inspectors have seen and know, the Albany
Penitentiary has not its superior in the world.

"The cause, the reason, of these beneficial and
satisfactory results is plain. When individuals
seek and expect success in their private under-
takings, they generally use such means as are best
adapted to the ends in view, and no other con-
sideration is suffered to interpose. Not so, how-
ever, in public matters. While none but capable
men find employment with individuals, any body
is qualified to superintend public affairs. 'Indi-
viduals employ the best talents — the public
employs the best politicians.' Were private
citizens to conduct their business in the same way
the public does, it would not only be counted
absurd, but would, in most cases, prove ruinous to
themselves.

"That principle, then, which governs individu-
als in their aims and pursuits in private life was
established and prevails in the government of the
Penitentiary. It was settled, and resolved upon,
by the commissioners appointed to construct the
prison, before a stone of the edifice was laid. It
was constantly urged upon the attention of the
joint authorities, in every communication ad-

Albany Penitentiary. 159

dressed to them on the subject, and it wisely
received their assent and concurrence. It is this,
the total exclusion of party politics from the man-
agement of the Penitentiary, the fitness of every
instrumentality employed for the object it is
intended to accomplish, and the perfect capability
of those to whom the administration of its affairs
is confided; these together, without regard to any
thing else, make up and form the principle of
action, the strict observance of which, as a car-
dinal, fundamental rule, has contributed entirely
to the success of the Penitentiary scheme; and
so long as it is maintained inviolate, so long will
the Institution prosper and be a public blessing,
but whenever place and patronage are made the
reward of political services, and whenever office
in the Penitentiary is held by that tenure, then
will it fail and all its usefulness be destroyed."

In 1858 on the resignation, as Superintendent,
of Louis D. Pilsbury, the names of a large number
of individuals were mentioned in connection with
the appointment; and the Inspectors felt that
this great principle they had so long and so
thoroughly maintained, might be overlooked;
they consequently called renewed attention to it,
and to the importance of its decided maintenance.

160 Albany Penitentiary.

They said : " It is unnecessary to remind the
appointing power of the settled rule, established
and determined on, fourteen years ago, before a
stone of the Penitentiary was laid, to the rigid
observance of which, all the prosperity that has
since attended the enterprise, is justly attributable.
That principle, or rule — the total exclusion of
party politics from all influence in its affairs —
has become the standard of action, and the sole
foundation on which the success of the Peniten-
tiary rests. It is not a man's opinions on state
or national questions of public policy, or his ser-
vices in support of them, that qualifies him for
place in the Penitentiary; his individual and
personal fitness and capacity for the station, and
not his political course and conduct, is alone the
passport and recommendation to ofiice there, and
the Inspectors rejoice that this great and leading
principle (which so far has been productive of the
best results) has been followed by each succeed-
ing board of supervisors with admirable firmness
and consistency."

Another quotation will show how, with advanc-
ing experience, their matured judgments honored
and commended this rule. These, in^ 1860, were
their significant words : " The idea that led to the

Albany Penitentiary. 161

establishment of the Penitentiary was coupled
with the purpose of excluding all partisan influ-
ence from its control or direction, and the first
act of the authorities at the commencement of
the work was to declare that party politics should
not be recognized in its management. Succeed-
ing boards with a firmness and consistency credit-
able alike to their wisdom and integrity, have
steadily indorsed this policy, and have invariably
acted upon the principle, that the Penitentiary
should be conducted in the manner that private
individuals find essential to the prosperous advance-
ment of their own business, and that fitness and
capacity alone should be the passport to office in
the Penitentiary, without regard to the political
opinions of the individual. By this means the
county has hitherto been enabled to secure the
best talents, and the services of men who would
decline positions of such care and responsibility if
subject to displacement merely by the revolutions
of the political wheel or the caprices of party.

" The fruits of this policy are before you and
before the public, and whenever it shall be aban-
doned, the Penitentiary will assuredly go to swift
destruction."

These quotations have been given to show how.

162 Alba^t PE^^TI:^'TIABY.

amidst all the mutations of events, the insidious
and powerful temptations of party politics, and
the predictions of failure by political partisans;
this important rule has been maintained in the
government of this Institution. Eespecting it the
Inspectors and Superintendent have been in per-
fect accord. And there has never been at any
time the least disposition to disregard it. Though
the latter is decided in his political views, yet it is
believed he has never in all his extensive business
operations and purchases for the Penitentiary been
influenced by political friendship, but has consci-
entiously sought the fulfillment of his high trust.
May this rule be always thus firmly and practi-
cally maintained; for if the time should ever
come when it shall be disregarded in the govern-
ment of the Penitentiary the glory of the Institu-
tion will be gone, and its usefulness materially
lessened if not entirely destroyed.

TTould that this rule was thus applied to all
our alms houses and penal institutions. It is
essential to their good government, and the
attainment of their proposed ends. The adoption
of the opposite rule has been always, and widely
pernicious. And never will those institutions be
what they shotild be in economical management.

Albany Penitentiary. 163

discipline, and reformatory power, till it is totally
supplanted, by this which is commended hy reason,
experience, and the welfare of society.

164 Albany Penitentiary.

THE mSPECTOES.

A HISTORY of the Albany Penitentiary would
be incomplete, and would, indirectly, do injustice
to those gentlemen who have been its Inspectors
were not a record made of their valuable services.
Those services, though often requiring consider-
able time and labor, have always been rendered
without the smallest pecv/niary reward. They have
kept themselves particularly acquainted with the
state of the Institution, maintained a constant
oversight of its discipline, regularly examined its
accounts, advised, when required, its Superin-
tendent, prepared its annual reports, and dis-
charged, when necessary, other duties, simply for
the promotion of its prosperity, and the public
welfare. It is, therefore, only just that their
names and deeds should be had in remembrance.
The reference to them will be made in the order
of their appointment.

Samuel Pruyn was a well known and highly
respected inhabitant and merchant of Albany,

Albany Penitentiary. 165

who, after his retirement from business devoted
his attention with great assiduity to the penal
and eleemosynary interests of the county. He
deeply felt that there was at that time great need
of this, for the expenses for crime and pauperism
were rapidly advancing in this city and the
county towns.

Being a member of the board of supervisors, he
introduced to that body, on the 10th of May,
1843, a resolution : "That a committee of five be
appointed by the chairman, whose duty it shall be
during the recess of this board, to make a complete
and detailed examination of all matters relating to
the expenses of this county, in order to ascertain
if any reduction or reform can be devised con-
sistent with the due administration of justice, the
protection of property and the just compensation
of its executive oflficers; to the end that such
measures may be adopted as this board may
deem necessary for a more economical expenditure
of the public money."

This resolution was unanimously adopted, and
Mr. Pruyn was appointed chairman of that com-
mittee. At the next meeting of the board he
presented for himself and his associates a report
which resulted in an application, from the super-

22

166 Albany Penitentiary.

visors and common council of the city, to the
legislature for the passage of a law authorizing the
erection of a Penitentiary. By the enactment of
that law, Mr. Pruyn was made chairman of the
board of commissioners. His associates were
Lewis M. Dayton, Esq., and Dr. Barent P. Staats.
But while their aid was constant and of great value,
he, having time and inclination, cheerfully took
and discharged the burden of the service. He
directed the course of investigation preparatory to
definite action ; wrote the admirable report which
the commissioners submitted to the board of super-
visors; selected the location and secured plans
and estimates for the building. He watched with
deep interest, and untiring vigilance, the progress
of its erection, and it is believed that his gratifi-
cation on its completion was nearly, if not quite
equal, to that he would have felt in the realization
of any cherished personal object. His labors in
this commission gave entire satisfaction to his
associates, and to the authorities of the county.

It was, therefore, highly proper and desirable
that, on the consummation of this trust, and the
organization of the Board of Inspectors, Mr.
Pruyn should be appointed one of its members.

This was cheerfully and unanimously done

Albany Penitentiary. 167

December 26th, 1848, and to this office he
brought all the interest and zeal he had previ-
ously cherished. Me studied the history of penal
institutions ; the different systems of prison disci-
pline prevalent in this country ; the objects to be
sought by convict confinement ; and he felt and
practically manifested, till the very close of his
life, something of a paternal interest in the pros-
perity of the Penitentiary. To him the Superin-
tendent never looked in vain for aid. They
worked most harmoniously together, and the
latter will never cease to cherish an affectionate
remembrance of his service and friendship. All
the annual reports of the Institution, up to the
time of his decease, which occurred on the 18th
of Feljruary, 1862, were written by him. And
his associates in the same office have truthfully
said : " In whatever concerned the interests of the
P<;nitentiary, he was animated by a zeal that
enlisted all the sympathies, and which never
faltered before the most discouraging prospects.
To the business of the Institution his time was
most liberally devoted; and the solicitude and per-
severance with which he watched over all its in-
terests was of the kind which men exhibit in the
care of their individual affairs. In his intercourse

168 Albany Penitentiary.

with all associated witli him in the management
of the Penitentiary, Mr. Pruyn was uniformly
courteous and kind. His surviving associates,
looking back upon the many difficulties and
embarrassments through which the Penitentiary
has made its way, and at the position which it
now occupies in the history of American penal
institutions, and mindful only of the duty of jus-
tice to the dead, desire to record their testimony,
that a large share of the success and fame of our
Penitentiary are to be attributed to the sound
judgment and the disinterested labors of Samuel
Pruyn."

Gilbert I. Van Zandt, of the town of Watervliet,
was one of the original Inspectors appointed on the
organization of the board. He is a man of amiable
temper, sound judgment, untiring industry, and
excellent Christian character. His interest in
the Penitentiary and devotion to its welfare,
never failed, but the distance of his residence
from Albany, and for several years past the grow-
ing infirmities of age, have prevented him giving
to it that constant attention he would otherwise
have gladly done. Between himself and Mr.
Pruyn, there existed a cordial friendship, and an
entire harmony of sentiment, respecting the

Albany Penitentiary. 169

government of the Institution ; while the Super-
intendent cherishes deep respect for his character,
and gratitude for his valuable and long continued
services. This excellent man, after eighteen
years' service, felt compelled, on account of age,
to resign his office as Inspector in December, 1866,
on which occasion the joint authorities of the city
and county adopted unanimously the following
resolutions :

^^ Resolved, That the thanks of the citizens of
Albany county are eminently due to Hon. Gil-
bert I. Van Zandt for his long continued and
valuable services as Inspector of the Peniten-
tiary, and that this joint board desire to give this
public expression of their appreciation of his
unceasing efforts to carry forward to complete
success the Institution with which he has been
connected since its foundation.

^^ Resolved, That we learn, with regret, that so
estimable a man and valuable official has signified
his intention of retiring from the position he has
so honorably filled, and that we extend to him
the assurance that in whatever capacity he may
hereafter serve his constituents, he will most cer-
tainly enjoy, as he deservedly merits, the confi-
dence and respect of the people at large."

170 Albany Penitentiary.

William W. Forsyth, of Albany,, was also
another of the original Inspectors appointed with
Messrs. Pruyn and Van Zandt. To the extent of
his ability he cordially cooperated with his asso-
ciates, but bodily sickness proved a serious hinder-
ance to his efforts. He resigned his office in June,
1853, fourteen months before his decease. His
associates bore this testimony to his worth and
labors. Mr. Forsyth "had been in office since
the time of the present organization of the Peni-
tentiary. His position in society, and the experi-
ence he had acquired from personal investigation
on this special subject, eminently qualified him
for the place he held ; but his declining health,
and his contemplated absence from the country
for an indefinite time, seeking its restoration,
made it indispensable for him to retire from the
office. The valuable and gratuitous services of
Mr. Forsyth, his great usefulness, and the deep
interest he manifested in the affairs of the Peni-
tentiary, deserve the gratitude and thanks of the
community."

At the next meeting of the authorities, the
following resolution was unanimously passed:

"Resolved, That this joint board deeply regret
that the Hon. William W. Forsyth has been com-

Albany Penitentiaet. 171

pelled, by reason of impaired health to withdraw
from the office of Inspector of the Penitentiary;
that they highly appreciate the intelligence and
zeal with which he has always discharged the
duties of his office, and that they cordially con-
gratulate him on the distinguished reputation and
usefulness of the Institution, to the success of
which his counsels and labors have so much
contributed."

Mr. Forsyth's resignation took place in the
middle of the year, so that the other Inspectors,
under the authority given them, selected John B.
James to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
Subsequently in commending their selection to
the joint authorities for approval, they said :
"The reasons for their previous choice, and for
their present recommendation are, that Mr. James
is a large landholder and taxpayer in Albany.
He is a gentleman of wealth and leisure, and
can therefore afford to devote his time to this
object, gratuitously. His education, intelligence,
practical knowledge, and inclination, fit him pecu-
liarly for the office ; and further, the undersigned
[Messrs. Pruyn and Van Zandt] difliering from
Mr. James politically selected him for that very
reason as their associate, that they might evince

172 Albany Penitentiary.

by their acts the sincerity of those professions
which have so frequently led them to admonish
the county government against allowing party
influences to control, or enter into the manage-
ment and direction of the Penitentiary. They
are satisfied that although Mr. James is as de-
cided in his political views as they themselves
are, yet he will cooperate thoroughly with them,
in not suffering any feeling or bias of that kind
to have the least effect in the discharge of the
duties of the Inspectorship."

This action of the Inspectors was entirely satis-
factory to the joint board, and Mr. James was
unanimously appointed an Inspector for the term
of three years.

He entered on his duties with cheerfulness and
zeal, was ever ready to render any service that
was necessary, and greatly commended himself by
his urbanity and devotion, to his associates and
the Superintendent. He did not, however, live
to serve through this official term. His death
occurred on the 22d of May, 1856. His col-
leagues bore the following earnest and honorable
testimony to his excellent qualities and official
worth : " The undersigned now discharge a
painful duty in officially announcing the decease

Albany Penitentiary. 173

of their late colleague, John B. James. They
had been connected with him in the oversight of
the Penitentiary for nearly three years. He pos-
sessed noble and generous qualities, and it was
always pleasant to be associated with him in any
business, whether of a public or a private nature.
In the necessary and familiar intercourse of the
undersigned with Mr. James, he won their esteem
and regard. Traits of genial and amiable cha-
racter, constantly shone forth. Although unob-
trusive, and undesirous of a foremost place, he
was always ready to be employed, and on several
occasions by his innate tact, courteous manners
and kindly disposition, gained concessions for the
Penitentiary interests, from those, whom mere
matter of fact, business men could scarcely ap-
proach.

" Nor is this a mere conventional formality on
the part of the undersigned, made for the occasion,
but a sincere and honest tribute to his worth and
memory.

"Faithful to the rule they themselves helped to

establish, as the cardinal principle on which the

success and high standing of the Institution

must ever depend — a rule excluding all political

considerations and partisan influences from any
2.3

174 Albany Penitentiary.

control in its government — the undersigned sought
amongst those holding a different political creed
from themselves for a successor to Mr. James —
for one whose opinions on questions of state and
national policy were decided and well known, and
which differed from their own, but who neverthe-
less would entertain their own views and unite
with them in maintaining the special policy which
has hitherto prevailed, and thus far proved so
successful in the management of the Peniten-
tiary."

Subsequently the joint board unanimously
adopted a resolution deploring the death of this
excellent man which deprived the Penitentiary of
the services of a highly qualified Inspector, ■■and
the commiuiity of an amiable and esteemed
citizen."'

Occurring as this event did in the midst of the
official year, the other Inspectors were again called
to exercise the authority invested by the rules and
regulations in them. They accordingly selected
and. appointed William A. Young, late recorder of
Albany, to fill the vacancy until the joint autho-
rities should direct otherwise. A more suitable
appointment could not have been made. He
possessed all the qualifications required, and has

Albany Penitentiary. 17-5

honored the office he fills. The Inspectors in
announcing to the joint board this action said :
" To introduce him to the joint board, except as
a formality, is needless. As a citizen, as recorder
of the city and a judge of its municipal criminal
courts, he and his services are already as widely
known as they are favorably appreciated by the
public. His experience in criminal matters and
long acquaintance with the theory and discipline
of the Institution, his social position, inflexible
integrity and lofty independence of character, all
qualify him peculiarly for the place; and the
undersigned [Messrs. Pruyn and Van Zandt] felt
quite sure in making the selection, that they were
only forestalling the action of the joint authorities
in the matter. In this view they need scarcely
ask that their doings may be ratified, or that the
appointment of Mr. Young may be continued for
the next succeeding term.

The anticipation cherished when this appoint-
raent was made has been happily fulfilled. Mr.
Young has rendered highly valuable service to
the Institution, and it is earnestly hoped he will
be spared and enabled to do so for many years
to come.

In December, 1862, Robert Babcock, of the

176 Albany Penitentiaet.

town of Bethlehem, was appointed Inspector by
the joint board to fill the vacancy occasioned by
the death of Samuel Pruyn: and in December,
1864, he was reappointed for the term of three
years, and still worthily fills the ofl&ce.

At the last meeting of the board, held Decem-
ber 14th, 1866, Eli Perry was appointed Inspector
for the term of three years from the first of
March, 1867. As Mr. Perry has been for several
years mayor of the city, is well acquainted with
its public business, and has long shown an interest
in the prosperity of the Penitentiary, this appoint-
ment has gratified many of its friends, and pro-
mises good to the Institution. It unquestionably
demands and deserves the warm and disinterested
devotion of every one officially connected with it,
and, this given, in the future as in the past, its
career of signal prosperity will continue and
increase.

Albany Penitentiary. 177

THE PHYSICIAN.

The sameness of the duties required from year
to year, of a physician to an Institution like the
Albany Penitentiary, allows but little room for
remarks of a general historical character. The
same diseases generally appear from time to time,
and the same course of treatment must be pur-
sued. And though there may be varieties in both
which would deeply interest the professional man,
their presentation would fail to engage the public
mind. There are, however, some peculiarities in
the present case, which must not be overlooked.

Dr. Barent P. Staats, was one of the commis-
sioners appointed by the legislature to locate and
build the Penitentiary. In that position he dis-
played a most commendable interest and devotion.
Its duties were faithfully discharged ; the service
he rendered was valuable and appreciated, and
since its completion he has always evinced a
practical concern in its prosperity.

On the organization of the board of Inspectors,

178 Albany Penitentiary.

he was immediately "appointed the Physician of
the Institution, and from that time to the present,
a period of more than eighteen years, he has
filled that position to the satisfaction of the In-
spectors, the Superintendent, and other officials.
His promptness in attending to its calls has
been unfailing ; his fidelity has been exemplary ;
and his skill has been indicated in the compara-
tively small number of deaths which have
occurred there during this protracted period.

During the existence of the Penitentiary, it has
been visited six times with malignant diseases.
These were cholera, shjp fever, small-pox and
typhus fever. But though a large number of
prisoners were afflicted thereby, only eighteen
died. And some of the latter would have re-
covered but for the debility or disease previously
existing and consequent on their intemperate habits.
This is a circumstance which indicates both medi-
cal attention and ability.

This event suggests also the mention of another,
and more serious, difficulty with which the doctor
has had constantly to contend in his practice at
the Penitentiary. Of the sixteen thousand, seven
hundred and seventy-four persons sent there, four-
teen thousand, seven hundred and ninety-two

Albany Penitentiary. 179

have acknowledged themselves to be intemperate.
Very many of these have gone there in a drunken
state, and not a few either were at the time, or be-
came soon after, subject to delirium tremens. In
one of his earlier reports, he designated this as
the most formidable of all the diseases that have
prevailed there, and it has continued so until
within two or three years. The number of such
cases has been very large, but of them only
twenty-one have died. This evil, together with
the doctor's consistent adherence to temperance,
has led him, in almost every one of his reports,
to protest against the general use, as a beverage,
of intoxicating drinks. He says : " The inmates
of the Penitentiary, with few exceptions, consist
of men and women whose constitutions have been,
in a great measure, destroyed by the inordinate
use of intoxicating drinks, and consequently a
large proportion of them require medical attend-
ance before they are in a condition to commence
labor, and in some cases their sentences are so
short that their time expires before they can com-
mence work at all."

Again : " The number of commitments for the
past year has been larger than during that which
preceded it. and the number of sick has been cor-

180 Albany Penitentiaey.

respondingly great. The phases of their ailments
have been equally varied, and consequently my
duties no less onerous than before. Were it not
for the previous intemperate use of alcoholic
drinks, among the subjects of my charge, the
medical duties in the Penitentiary would be light
and easy. But this is not the case."

Again: "As usual, the most trouble I have
had has arisen from the previous excessive use of
alcoholic drinks by the convicts. I have pre-
scribed in about thirty cases of delirium tremens
during the past year, and though many were bad
cases I have lost none by death. That so much
of ^^is should constantly occur, is not to be won-
dered at. Out of nearly one thousand who have
been in the Penitentiary during the past year,
some twenty-five of them, only, claim to be tem-
perate ; and even a few of these confess that they
had been in the habit of taking two or three
glasses per day."

In a later report he says : "Most all of the con-
victs sent here are addicted to the intemperate
use of alcohol, consequently they are in a very
debilitated state of body and mind, and a large
portion of them are attacked with delirium tremens
immediately after their arrival. I have had one

Albany Penitentiary.. 181

hundred cases during the past year, and the f^ues-
tion naturally arises, is there no jn-cmatlvef

Still another difficulty the doctor has had, espe-
cially of late to meet, and which has rendered his
practice less successful than otherwise it would
have been, has been the enfeebled and diseased
state of very many convicts who served in the
army, and who, from intemperance and exposure,
were subject to rheumatism, chronic diarrhea, or
affections of the lungs. A large number, also, of
the colored prisoners sent here from Washington,
have come in a debilitated and diseased condition.
He says : "This class of patients, with only occa-
sional exceptions, almost on the first attack fall
into a state of exhaustion, from which it is
extremely difficult to restore them." In conse-
quence they have in a number of instances con-
tinued to decline till removed by death.

These facts will show, not only the skill and
faithfulness of the physician, but that the inmates
of the Penitentiary have had as good medical
attention as the more favored classes in society,
and very much better than they would generally
have been able to procure for themselves.

24

182 Albany Penitentiary.

THE CHAPLAmCY.

One of the cardinal requisitions that the origin-
ators of the Albany Penitentiary urged in con-
nection with its establishment was : " That such
moral and religious instruction should be provided
as would be a powerful auxiliary in producing
amendment and reformation." This indicated
their deference to divine acquirements, and their
regard to the moral and spiritual wants of man-
kind. For of all the attributes of man, the moral
and religious are the most important and influ-
ential. They, by divine arrangement, have the
precedency. They are designed to be the main-
spring of thought and action — the director of the
whole man. Let them, therefore, be neglected,
debased, or treated as of secondary importance,
and the whole system will be deranged. Eeadjust>
ment and reformation will be impossible. There
may, indeed, be induced, under the power of seclu-
sion or physical force, a servile fear; perverse
passions may, for a time, be checked, and the

Albany Penitentiary. 183

developments of a depraved will may be stayed ;
but let these appliances be removed, and it will
soon become apparent that instead of promoting
reformation they have induced spiritual hardness,
recklessness and hate, and made the man a more
inveterate slave to his passions and a greater
injury to the state. The moral and religious im-
provement of convicts should, therefore, be the first
and constant aim. Our efforts should be directed
to the sanctification of the springs of feeling and
action ; and this secured, by the energy of the
gospel, under the benediction of God, the objects
of our solicitude will go forth to exemplify in
virtuous lives the wisdom and utility of our
efforts.

Daniel Webster, that eminently sagacious law-
yer, statesman, and observer of men, said : " Man
is not only an intellectual, but he is also a moral
being; and his religious feelings and habits
require cultivation. Let the religious element in
man's nature be neglected ; let him be influenced
by no higher motive than low, self-interest, and
subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits
of civil authority, and he becomes the creature of
selfish passions or blind fanaticism. The cultiva-
tion of the religious sentiment represses Keen-

184 Albany Penitentiaey.

tiousness, incites to general benevolence and the
practical acknowledgment of the brotherhood of
men, inspires respect for law and order, and gives
strength to the whole social fabric ; at the same
time it conducts the human soul upwards to the
author of its being."

But while these general principles are admitted,
there are persons who contend that the regular
preaching of the gospel in our penal Institutions,
by officially appointed Chaplains, is of questiona-
ble utility, and that good libraries will meet this
demand. They, however, practically fail to recog-
nize both the requirement of God, and the deep,
abiding m.oral wants of men ; they overlook the
lessons experience, in all Christian countries, has
taught, and which show, that however low the
estimate some may entertain of these services,
they cannot be dispensed with, but are essential
to effective discipline, and spiritual comfort and
culture.

In estimating the utility of these services, such
persons do not apprehend the peculiar and power-
ful hinderances to success found in the strength
of those vicious dispositions which many criminals
inherit; in the inveteracy of long indulged de-
praved habits; the continued love of self-indulg-

Albany Penitentiary. 185

ence in some of its most pernicious forms ; and
in tJie Iwstility of heart whicli is indulged against
society for sufferings which are regarded as the ex-
pression of power, not of justice. They do not,
moreover, think of the obstacles to usefulness
which exist in the uncertainty associated with
the* administration of justice ; the short sen-
tences inflicted on very many convicts ; the
expectation so extensively indulged of executive
pardon ; the prevalent and regnant spirit in our
penal Institutions which practically regards exter-
nal submission and pecuniary profit, far more
than spiritual reformation and the gain of godli-
ness; and in the habits of society which often
operate, as convicts well Imiow, either as powerful
hinderances to good, or strong temptations to evil.
Above all, those persons forget the utter ignorance
of revealed truth in which a large number of our
criminals have lived; their inaptitude and che-
rished insensibility to divine impressions ; and the
fact that there can be no real and saving reforma-
tion without the transformation of the soul, which
is not within the compass of human power. This,
said the Great Teacher, is "not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God."

186 Albany Penitentiary.

There is another class of individuals who cor-
dially favor the appointment of Chaplains, and
the maintenance of religious services, but who
think the hinderances to the production of
spiritual good, are so great that very little indeed
will be accomplished. To both these classes the
subsequent facts are commended, for they are hot
the expression of an easy credulity, or extrava-
gant feeling, but of discriminating judgment, and
actual experience.

So convinced was the Superintendent, by his
previous experience, of the importance of regular
religious service, with prisoners, that in April,
1846, as soon as the north wing was finished, and
men were placed in its cells, long before a Chap-
lain was appointed, he engaged a clergyman to
ofiiciate among them every Sabbath day. The next
year as soon as the south wing was finished, and
women were confined therein, he had religious
service held with them also. So that for some
time, before the building was completed, two
weekly religious services with the convicts were
maintained.

When the board of Inspectors was organized,
the clergyman, who had previously officiated, the
Kev. Thomas K. Rawson, was appointed as the

Albany Penitentiary. 187

Chaplain of the Institution. He had by that
time obtained some experience in this department
of ministerial labor; had commended himself to
those officially connected with it by his diligence,
prudence and fidelity ; and he evidently cherished
warm practical desires for the spiritual good of
those committed to his care. His reports and
labors during the period of his incumbency
afforded the most satisfactory proof of this fact.

The chapel was dedicated in January^ 1848.
It was forty-eight feet wide and thirty-six feet
long. It had three tiers of seats, one of which
was separated from the other two by a high parti-
tion and was reserved for the female prisoners.
It would seat about three hundred persons, all of
whom could see the speaker, and be within his
view.

The order of service is similar to that which
prevails in non-liturgical churches, and is re-
stricted to one hour. The preaching has ever
been of an unsectarian and catholic character,
confined to the essential truths and duties of Christ-
ianity. It is required of all who are in health
to attend, and there is not only a uniform willing-
ness, but a desire to do so ; indeed it is generally
esteemed a pleasure. And while there are doubt-

188 Albany Penitentiary.

less some who feel thus because it is a relief from
the solitariness of their cells, there are many
others who are influenced by higher motives, and
who love the service because of the spiritual
instruction and refreshment it affords. Certainly
their attention is at all times exemplary, and that,
it is believed, not simply because of the excellent
discipline which prevails throughout the Institu-
tion, but from the personal interest felt therein.

In connection with preaching the gospel, it is
required of the Chaplain that he should visit the
prisoners at their cells for personal conversation
and instruction on religious subjects, that their
improvement and his usefulness may be pro-
moted. This has always been faithfully done on
the Sabbath and at other times, and these visits
have often been occasions of spiritual interest and
promise. Many a convict has then freely dis-
closed his course in sin, his objections to the
religion of the Bible, or his anxiety for salvation,
as otherwise he would not have done, and has
received counsel which was attended with per-
manent good. 1

The following extracts from the former Chap-
lains' reports will show the conviction, which, after
prolonged observation, he entertained of the use-

Albany Penitentiary. 189

fulness of these services. In liis first report he
said : "As to the results, or the effects produced
upon the minds of the multitudes who have here
been brought under the gospel influences, much
might be said, were it expedient to enter into the
details of particular cases, or trace the history of
individuals ; for it can not be doubted but that
many souls have here received permanent impres-
sions through the truth, sufficient to guide and
encourage their future good conduct.

" The Sabbath-breaker, the profane swearer,
the spendthrift, the licentious, and the inebriate,
and some of every class I firmly hope, will here-
after be better citizens, and better men, for having
found in this prison reliable friends, ready to sjmi-
pathize in their sorrows, and direct their anxious
inquiries after spiritual wisdom.

" There have been five, who have expressed
hopes of having been converted to God in prison,
and three others who had once been professors of
religion, gave evidence before they left of their
sincere mind and purpose to walk worthily here-
after."

Again : " Allow me to add that, from month to

month, I have received some cheering evidence

that the instrumentalities which have here been
24

190 Albany Penitentiary.

employed for the moral improvement and reforma-
tion of the prisoners, have been blessed in pro-
moting their good in various ways.

"And, in respect to a few of these, we might,
perhaps, relate better things than such as grow
out of fair promises of amendment of life, and
good resolutions, for we desire, with devout grati-
tude, to magnify the truth in its divine influences
to turn the sinner from the error of his ways, yet
we would not indulge too confident hopes in cases
of persons of this description, however flattering
at first may be the appearances."

In his seventh report, he used this decisive
language: "Most of the prisoners seem well
inclined to read the scriptures, and diligently im-
prove the opportunities afforded them in doing
so. And occasionally I have met with instances
of devotedness to this employment, manifesting a
most exemplary spirit of perseverance and of
solicitude to understand the teachings of that
sacred volume, none of whose inspired pages can
be thus perused, from day to day, without deeply
impressing the conscience of the reader.

"Thus, in various ways, much good has been
accomplished, the ignorant and erring have been
induced to look upon the holy things of religion

Albany Penitentiary. 191

in a better light. Their frequent acknowledg-
ments of its adaptedness to heal and save the
lost, abundantly evince the convictions they have
felt of its claims to their obedience.

"I cannot doubt but that numbers of the prison-
ers have, from month to month, gone from these
walls with clearer views of the will of their
Maker, and, consequently, with a better sense of
their dependence upon him than they had ever
before entertained ; and from time to time, there
has been pleasing evidence that not only the way-
ward and the wanderer have been checked in
their downward course, but that they have
resolved to turn their feet unto the testimonies of
the Lord.

"I would, therefore, with feelings of humble
gratitude, acknowledge the sovereign goodness
and mercy which has been vouchsafed to these
means of grace, and rendered them successful in
awakening to serious contemplation the thought-
less mind, and consoling the penitent with the
blessings of pardon and hope."

These are certainly most gratifying facts. Their
occurrence in connection with ministerial service
in any church would be encouraging, but in the
Penitentiary, among the class of persons who are

192 Albany Penitentiaey.

usually met there, they are both stimulating and
promising. They show that God will everywhere
honor the ministry of his own word.

In February, 1856, the present Chaplain was
appointed, and, having accepted the position, he
assumed its duties on the first Sabbath of the next
month. Though he had never before been en-
gaged in prison ministrations, yet having been for
fifteen years occupied in ministerial and pastoral
service, he had seen enough of human nature in
connection with this work, to moderate his expect-
ations of usefulness, to assure him that good
impressions are often evanescent, that sincere
purposes to amend frequently fail of fulfillment,
and that patience and caution must be exercised
in estimating cases of spiritual transformation.

This experience has constantly influenced him
in his estimate of the good accomplished by his
ministrations at the Penitentiary. While expect-
ing its appearance, he has been careful to test its
reality. While thankful for its promise, he has
waited for the practical fruit. And it is alike his
duty and pleasure to say that such fruit has, with
every subsequent year of service, been more or
less realized. Though many of the convicts were
unable to read, and profoundly ignorant of the

Albany Penitentiary. 193

doctrines of the Bible ; though they were deeply
debased by long indulged pernicious habits;
though in many instances they cherished senti-
ments which had almost destroyed their moral
perceptions and made them incapable of forming
an intelligent and correct opinion of personal,
spiritual, religion; and though in thousands of
cases the short period of confinement necessarily
limited the prospect of good results, yet hardened
and vicious women, stolid and degraded men,
have been aroused to thoughtfulness and con-
cern. They were compelled to feel that they had
been recreant to their own interests, and had will-
fully debased their highest attributes and nature.
Though many of them failed to nurture those
impressions, and returned again to their evil
course, there is good reason to believe that he,
who "drew near to him the publicans and sin-
ners," who did not repel the contrite Magdalene,
nor deny the prayer of the dying thief, has made
his word, to some of them, the power of God to
salvation. Particular personal illustrations of
this might easily be given, but the following brief
extracts from the present Chaplain's reports must
suffice. In the report for 1860, he said : "I have
also watched the conduct of several after their

194 Albany Penitentiart.

period of confinement has expired, and it gives
me pleasure to say that they have afforded gratify-
ing evidence of reformation, and in some instances
of devotion to Jesus. I am constrained by this
observation to think that a much larger number
are benefited by the discipline of the Penitentiary
than is generally supposed."

Again in 1861 : "I am thankful to say that
through the year now ending the religious services
at the Penitentiary h'ave been sustained with
regularity, and as much of interest as during any
previous year of my connection with the Institu-
tion. They have been attended, I believe, by
the greater number of convicts, not by constraint
only, but of a ready mind. The ministrations of
the gospel have met a respectful, and in very
many instances, an earnest attention. And in
my subsequent conversations with individual pri-
soners, I have frequently been cheered by their
voluntary remarks and inquiries respecting what
they heard, or had read from the sacred word. I
know that many there heard truths, and were the
subjects of impressions, which, to them were en-
tirely new, and which, had they been known and
cherished in the germinating period of life, would
have saved them from criminality, punishment

Albany Penitentiary. 195

and disgrace. I have during tliis, as in previous
years, watched the conduct of several after leav-
ing the Penitentiary, and I mention the fact with
gratitude to God, they are ncrw doing well, Jionora-
hly filling their station in society, and in some
instances they are giving proof of true piety. I
believe there are those now in it icJio will whsn
liberated do likewise."

Again, in 1864 : "Several instances of hopeful
conversion^ have, I am encouraged to believe,
occurred during the year; and among the men
who have left the Penitentiary within that time,
three are known to me as giving abiding proof of
Christian character. One has been admitted to
membership with a church in Western Virginia,
another in Maryland, and a third is about to unite
with a church in this state."

The following is from his last report : " I have
gone from Sabbath to Sabbath to meet the convicts
with a cheerful and grateful heart, for I felt my
object was in harmony with the divine mind, with
the great plan of human salvation, and with the
enduring happiness of the hundreds to whom I
' am accustomed to preach.

"It is a pleasure to me to say that I have, with
every returning service, had a very attentive, and

196 Albany Penitentiary.

apparently, interested congregation. Indeed, their
earnest and inquiring looks, while addressing them,
have often afforded me great interest and hope,
and enabled me to speak more directly to their
hearts.

"My visits to the prisoners in their cells on the
Sabbath and at other times, have invariably been
agreeable, and not unfrequently been gladly wel-
comed. "Very many deeply interesting conversa-
tions have been held with them respecting their
previous character and conduct.

"That spiritual good has been accomplished, I
have no question. Decisive proof of this has been
afforded by some now in the Institution, by the
correspondence and intercourse had with others
who have left, and by the intelligent scriptural
hope expressed by others who have entered the
eternal state. I mention it with thankfulness to
the Giver of all good, that except in seasons of
special religious interest, I have never, in either
of the three pastoral charges previously sustained,
witnessed more frequent and hopeful indications
of permanent usefulness."

In view of these facts, and the wants of the
Penitentiary, it is to be regretted that the Chap-
lain's whole time has never yet been engaged.

Albany Penitentiary. 197

It only remains to speak of the alteration which
has just been made for attending religious service.
On the reception, in September, 1862, of a large
number of United States prisoners from Washing-
ton, it became necessary to alter the chapel for
their accommodation. Consequently the high
partition which had divided and hidden the
women from the men, was removed, and even then
the room was too small to admit all the male con-
victs. From that time, therefore, two religious ser-
vices were statedly held every Sabbath morning,
the first with the men, the second with the women,
and not unfrequently the Chaplain conducted a
third with those who could not be admitted to the
first. This occasioned increased anxiety and
labor ; and how to secure the necessary accommo-
dation was to the Superintendent a long and
wearisome study. At length the way to do so
occurred to his mind, and there being in the
earnings of the Institution the promise of suffi-
cient funds to defray the expense he determined
in August, 1866, to commence the work. The
alteration involved, as previously stated, the
addition of forty feet in length to the centre of
the building, from the foundation to the top.

This secures needed accommodations, as well as
25

198 Albany Penitentiary.

an enlarged chapel. The latter is now forty-eight
feet wide, and seventy-six feet long, and is in every
respect a fine commodious room. It is light, well
ventilated, and, with neatly frescoed walls, plea-
sant to eye ; adapted to excite healthful feelings
in connection with divine worship. It has a
gallery across the east end, which is appropriated
to the women, and will comfortably seat six hun-
dred persons. It was dedicated to the worship of
God, on Sabbath, April 21, 1867. In the morning
the Chaplain preached from Psalm cxxii, 1. "I
was glad when they said unto me let us go in the
house of the Lord." And in the afternoon, ad-
dresses were delivered by clergymen and gentle-
men of different religious denominations. A large
voluntary choir were present, and by their tasteful
and impressive singing, greatly added to the
occasion.

Albany Penitentiary. 199

CASES OF REFORMATION.

[From the OTiaplaMs ifecorrf.]

The Chaplain has been accustomed to keep a
record of the more decided cases of reformation
which have occurred during his incumbency, and
the following are extracts therefrom. They are
for convenience arranged according to priority,
and alphabetically, and are given with much
brevity.

A. Soon after entering on the duties of the
chaplaincy, this man particularly arrested my
attention. His vicious course had brought on
him ppverty, imprisonment and great spiritual
wretchedness. Compassionating his situation, an
earnest effort was made to convince him of the
folly of his course, the injury he had done to him-
self, and the sin he had committed against God.
After some time it appeared that the conversation
had with him, the reading of the Bible, and the
preaching of the gospel, had been blessed to the

200 Albany Penitentiary.

renewing of his soul. Some months after he left
the city for his home, he wrote to the Chaplain,
expressing his earnest thanks for the instruction
and advice he here received. He said : "It has
caused a blessed change in my feelings, and in
turning my mind from the evil way in which I
have gone. It has been the means of my leaving
that way and seeking the salvation of my soul.
I hope I continue to live in the fear of our Lord
Jesus Christ."

He added : "I have a brother in his thirteenth
year, who was almost as wicked as myself. I
have endeavored to show him the evil which fol-
lows such wickedness, and have persuaded him to
cast off the chain which binds him to the adver-
sary. Now, instead of roaming the fields on the
Sabbath, we see him going to church."

B. Was a young man of robust frame, and
determined will, and had been notorious in the
place of his residence for his unblushing wicked-
ness. He was sentenced to the Penitentiary for
six months. Soon after his incarceration he heard
a sermon from the text: "As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of
man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him

Albany Penitentiary. 201

shall not perish but have eternal life." This truth,
it is believed, was blessed by the Holy Spirit to the
renewal of his soul. From that time he became,
in the estimation of those who watched over and
conversed with him, an altered man. His spirit
was subdued and chastened. His former conduct
was deplored. He was thankful for his confine-
ment. The Bible and religious books were his
delight, and were diligently read. His interest in
divine service was strong and abiding. His reli-
ance on Jesus was intelligent and entire, and his
hope of salvation appeared scriptural and sound.
His conduct as a prisoner was very commendable,
and he left the Penitentiary determined by divine
help to serve the Lord.

G. "Was of English birth, and about twenty
years of age. His unsettled disposition led him
to wander to different parts of the world, to
mingle with dissolute companions and conse-
quently to feel that the way of transgressors is
hard. He listened attentively to the faithful pro-
clamation of the truth, sought conversation with
the minister, and disclosed a heart painfully dis-
appointed by Satan and the world, oppressed with
a consciousness of guilt, and fearful before God.

202 Albany Penitentiary.

His past life presented so dark a scene and sug-
gested such painful forebodings, that he shrunk
from the review. Bitter were his denunciations of
himself, and the course he had run, and mournfully
did he speak of wasted mind and opportunities.

Still the dishonor he had done to God was not so
deeply felt ; and there was much self-dependence
mingled with his expression of hope. Again and
again he was reminded of the importance of hav-
ing a well grounded hope, shown what that hope
is, and warned against trusting in any but Jesus.
At length it pleased the gracious Spirit to lead
him, as we trust, to see the heinousness of sin, as
committed against a righteous and beneficent God,
and the utter ruin and helplessness it brings on
man. On his perception of these truths, he ex-
claimed with astonishment : " How mistaken I
was ! Now I see that Jesus is all ! "

After this several months elapsed before the
expiration of his sentence, during which time his
conduct as a prisoner merited commendation. On
his release, he sought a residence in a Christian
family and soon after joined the Congregational
church in .

Not long after the commencement of the war in
1861, he joined the army and honorably discharged

Albany Penitentiaey. 203

his duties as a soldier during the three years for
which he enlisted. The following letter addressed
to the Chaplain, will show the spirit he cherished
in February, 1866 :

" My Dear Mr. Dyer :

I know it will do your kind heart good, when
this reaches you, to hear from one in whom you
have taken so great an interest, and for whom
you have done so much, and I assure you that,
although my long silence might well cause you to
think that I had forgotten you, yet many times
when the pressure of duties and surrounding
temptations have led me to neglect, and almost
forget the Savior whom, in days gone by, you
taught me to love ; the remembrance of those
teachings have led me back to think of you, and
calmly look the evil in the face, and turn with
fresh resolve and courage to battle against them.

" I speak of this that you may see that the bread
you cast upon the waters will return, although it
might be after many days, and the seed which
you sowed broad cast will spring up at sometime,
even though in many cases it bears no fruit.

" Many times, a word, an old familiar hymn
tune, or a text of scripture has brought me back

204 Albany Penitentiaky.

in imagination to the place where I first heard you
preach, and the thought of it has humbled me.
No, I have never forgotten you, sir, or the word
which I heard you preach, nor do I think it pos-
sible for me ever to do so ; and whilst I am speak-
ing of this, I will just mention, what I think is an
illustration and a proof of the power of religious
training.

"It is conceded by all, that here, in the army, is
the place where a man's true character is brought
out, and I fully concur in the opinion; therefore
we would think that it is just the place for one
who not only professes to be godly, but acts up to
it, to be reviled ; yet I can assure you, sir, that I
never knew a single instance, where a truly good
man was jeered or reviled at, since I have been in
the army, but on the contrary, he is always re-
spected and trusted, and that too, more amongst
the privates than the officers. Another thing,
tracts, religious papers, etc., are in most cases read
with avidity, and & favorite pastime, at least in
our regiment, is to sing Tiymns.

"This, I think, is the result of early religious
training, which to say the least of it, can have no
other influence but for good ; for I can say, that I
have to meet the first true Christian yet, who was

Albany Pbnitekttjaet, 205

a coward, or lias ever been amongst the skulkers
in the rear, in time of action. I never knew the
power of Christianity before I came in the army.

"This evening is a dark, rainy evening, and
being in my tent alone reading, I laid the book
down and looked over my 'Christian account' for
the past month, which left me all debtor, my
'faith' even counting 'nothing,' being 'without
works.' During my reverie, the thought came
into my head, what would Mr. Dyer say if he
could see me as I see myself? from this I had to
look, where I know you would have pointed me,
and ask what does Christ think of me, who sees
hetter than I do myself? The thought,. you might
well know, abashed me, but I have learnt to think
less of myself than I used to, and since I came in
the army I have determined to know no defeat
but when defeated by sin,, to buckle on the pro-
mises, and renew the contest with still greater
vigor.

" One thing I have found that I lack most, is

stability of purpose. Oh, how I wish I had the

constant, stubborn determination, which General

Grant shows he has, then I should not so often

wander from Christ! And now, Mr. Dyer, I

would ask you, -vVhen, in your closet?, you are alone
26

206 Albany Penitentiary.

with Christ, wrestle for me, pray that he will
give me that tenacity of purpose, to cling to him
through all this surging sea of life, that hereafter
we might meet all safe from those storms ! "

D. On his release from the Penitentiary, called
on me for conversation, and to solicit aid to take
him home. Some time after, he returned the
money, saying : "You will remember me as the
poor individual who called on you some time
since for advice, and whom you so generously
assisted. Accept my grateful thanks for your
kindness. I have delayed writing to you so long
only because I could not repay your friendly loan.
In temporal things my condition is low indeed ;
but I thank God, I can say and feel 'I am less
than the least of all his mercies,' and that where
sin abounded, grace doth now much more abound.

"The vows of a Christian profession have been
on me for twenty-five years ; but the circumstances
in which you knew me gave me a surprisingly
clear and minute remembrance of the past, and
forced me to taste the bitter dregs of long forgot-
ten sins. Oh, how nauseous to memory were the
sweet morsels of a careless, sinful life! I strive
to feel grateful for the mercy that has spared me.

Albany Penitentiary. 207

and that has, to some degree, renewed my hope.
My frozen heart sometimes thaws a little, but
often, I fear, there is more of selfish satisfaction
in it than melting gratitude.

"The first discourse I heard you preach was from
the text, 'Men ought always to pray and not to
faint.' That was to me like a flood of sunshine,
and sent my fainting heart with renewed courage
to the throne of grace. Another was from the
text: 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of
Godj' and that gave me renewed confidence in
the sure word of prophecy. Others seemed to be
special messages of mercy to my soul. Indeed,
mercy has marked all the path of my way-
wardness.

" ' Oh ! to grace how great a debtor,
Daily I'm constrained to be —

May that grace, Lord, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee.' "

,E. A young man who had grievously wandered
from the path of virtue, but had been hopefully con-
verted by the blessing of God, on the instruction
received, said, after his liberation : "I have thought
of your kind instructions a thousand times, and
will never forget them till my heart shall cease to

208 Albany Penitentiary.

beat. They have often deeply affected my mind.
There have been times when my conscience has
upbraided me with the severest reproaches. I .
have been led to review my past life, and to reflect
on the sinfulness of my conduct in abusing every
privilege, in opposing the dictates of conscience,
and in so long persisting to walk in the way of
transgressors when I found it so hard. I saw that
my sins were as the sand on the sea shore innu-
merable, and I thought there was no mercy for
such a sinner as I had been. These reflections
agitated my mind from day to day, till my heart
was truly awakened to a- sense of my situation as
a sinner before God. Then the truths I had
learned in the Sunday school came afresh, and
with power to my mind. I was enabled to go as
a poor sinner to Jesus for pardon and grace, trust-
ing alone to his mercy and committing my soul
to his care. My Bible is now my chosen compa-
nion, and the books, tract? and papers you have
given me, have been of great use. I shall have
to bless God for them through eternity. I must
say that I never found tru^ happiness till I fled
for refuge from the wrath to come, to the Lamb
of God, who taketh away the sins of the world.
0, that as I have sinned much, I may love the

Albany Penitentiary. 209

Savior much, and serve him wholly ; and may I
hope, that all my sins are buried in the ocean of
his love, so that they may be no more found
forever!"

F. The following letter was unex|)ectedly re-
ceived from a young man who gave evidence of
saving benefit from the services to which he
referred :

"It is in accordance with the dictates of my
heart, that I address these lines to you, and con-
fessing my unworthiness before God, I desire with
heartfelt gratitude to bless him for preserving;
my life, and for showing me by his Spirit and
word the way of everlasting life through the
mediation of his dear Son. I express to him my
warmest thanks for your earnest efforts to instruct
my mind, to lead me to Jesus, and to make me
content and dutiful in iny present unfortunate
situation. You have at different periods poured
on my heart a flood of consolation, from the pre-
cious encouragements of the gospel, and have
clearly shown me by scripture and my own expe-
rience the connection which exists between sin
and suffering, and the effects of a disobedient and
profligate life. By your unwearied ejiertions the

210 Albany Penitentiaet.

word of God is no longer a sealed book to me, and
for these and every other act of kindness I have
experienced at your hands, I feel sincerely grate-
ful. . While I lament my former misconduct, and
misfortunes, and trust I have abandoned the vices,
previously indulged, I earnestly implore divine
grace to enable me to submit in a proper manner,
and do all things as unto Christ."

G. Another individual, who was hopefully res-
cued from the destructive path of sin through the
blessing of God on the religious services attended,
said : " I thank God that he has opened my eyes
to see my sins, and led me to seek his favor while
it may be found. When I think of my past trans-
gressions, I bless him I am not in hopeless misery.
It makes me shudder to think of my course and
danger. How very thankful I ought to be ! '0,
Lord, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry
with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou
comfortest me ! Behold, God is my salvation, I
will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah
is my strength and song.' Oh, it is heaven in the
soul of a poor sinner, deserving eternal misery, to
be able to say and feel without hesitation, ' God is
my salvation!' I do thank and praise his holy

Albany Penitentiaet. 211

name that he has opened a way for me to be
saved. Through his mercy I can- say with the
hymn :

" ' Yes, though of sinners I'm the worst,
I cannot doubt thy will ;
For if thou hadst not loved me first,
I had refused thee still.'

"My wish and prayer is, that I may always be
found meek and humble at the Savior's feet. I
do hunger and thirst after righteousness,, and trust
that God will enable me to show forth his praise.
I feel my ignorance and weakness, but I look with
hope to Jesus. I sincerely thank him for the
great good I have received through your instru-
mentality. I trust through grace to persevere in
this good way, and I believe I shall have cause to
praise God to all eternity for the favor here
received."

H. It was early on a pleasant morning during
the summer of 1862, an individual called at
the Chaplain's house and expressed a particular
desire to see him. -Some surprise was felt when
the message was delivered, and curiosity as to the
object of so early a call. On meeting him he

212 Albany Penitentiaey.

stretched forth his hand in a very cordial manner,
and indicated, by his hearty shake, unusual
warmth. Not being immediately recognized, he
said, with somewhat of disappointment, "You do
not remember me ! " And it was so, for when
Before' seen it was in the Penitentiary attired in a
convict's dress, whereas now his appearance and
deportment were every way respectable.

He then mentioned his name, and said, "I have
not an hour to stop in Albany, but I have longed
to see you, and I felt I must if possible do so ; for
the preaching I heard, and the counsels you gave
me at the Penitentiary, made, by the blessing of
God, an impression on my mind which can never
be effaced and for which I trust I shall praise him
to all eternity. On leaving that place I went

to where I found immediate employment,

and am now comfortably settled. My family
which was broken up is now together. My wife
is a Christian woman. We are both members of
the church, and have hope of interest in Christ.
Life has altogether changed with me, I am now
happy, and I wanted to tell you and thank you
for your kind endeavors to lead me to Jesus."

Albany Penitentiary. 213

I. Was a young man of good temper, generous
heart, and respectable connections. But fond of
company and social gratification, he fell into vice
and crime, and was sent to the Penitentiary.
Through the influence of friends he obtained a
pardon for his first offense which seemed to
increase his boldness in sin. He was soon after
convicted again for the serious offense of grand
larceny, and was sent to the Penitentiary for two
years. During his confinement there this time, it
pleased God to bless the preaching of Christ to his
soul. He evidently became a changed man, and
when he left that Institution it was with the firm
determination to live a Christian life.

The Sabbath after his return home, he went
into the Sabbath school, and not long after was
received as a member of the church. In the
course of a few months the conviction gained an
ascendency in his mind that he ought to prepare
for the gospel ministry. After a thorough exa-
mination of his motives by his pastor and other
friends, he was encouraged to do so. He was

introduced to the seminary in to prepare

for college, which, being done, he left with the
expectation of soon entering on his collegiate
course. A clergyman who was daily conversant

214 Albany Penitentiary.

with him during that period, says : " He was a
diligent student, and, as a Christian, more than
barely exemplary. Indeed he was a model of con-
sistency and won the regard and esteem alike of
teachers, and his fellow students. Ever intent on
doing good, cheerful and communicative, he found
ready access to all, and left a deep impression of
the fervor and sincerity of his own piety, even on
those who were not moved to imitate it. No one
who knew him and was conversant with his daily
life, doubted of his being a disciple of the Master
whom he professed to serve.

" When the Tenth, or as it was subsequently
called, the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh regi-
ment was called into service, he, with three fellow
students determined, under a conviction of duty,
to join it for the defense of the country. Speak-
ing of this in a letter to a friend when at

he said, ' I do not think I did it rashly. For some
time before I expressed my feelings to any one,
my mind was exercised in regard to enlisting. I
had fears lest I had caught enthusiasm from my
fellows, instead of its being a sense of duty from
God. Finding no light thus, I went to the Kev.

Messrs. who spoke in favor of it; then,

after getting the consent of my mother, I enlisted.

Albany Penitentiary. 215

Until now I have not regretted the step I have
taken. Although my plans have been often
thwarted, yet my duty seems to be in this direc-
tion. The field here presented for labor to the
Christian is great and trying. I feel it, and to
some extent have had experience of it. Four
ministerial students, with several students for
other professions, are in the same company. Will
you pray for me, dear sir ? Also I would have
the prayers of those with whom I used to meet,
and take sweet counsel together.

" 'After I return, if I do, I hope eagerly to resume
my studies for the glorious work of the ministry,
which seems more precious to me, and much more
to be sought after. Pray for us that we may not
become corrupted, but that we may do good, and
honor the religion of Christ.'"

He was never permitted to return home. His
military duties in connection with his voluntary
religious service for the benefit of others were too
much for his strength. His body sunk under the
pressure, while his spirit joyfully arose to glorious
service on high.

J. Was among the prisoners who were brought
here, in 1862, from Washington. He was an

216 Albany Penitentiaet.

intelligent and well informed young man, and the
only son of an estimable colored preacher. His
parents diligently sought to bring him up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord, but he fear-
fully set at nought all their counsels, and despised
their reproofs. His father was anxious to give him
a good education, and prepare him for the ministry,
but he was determined to pursue a course of folly
and sin. He did so, and became awfully bold
and hardened in impiety. He said : "I cannot
describe my wickedness, in characters black
enough. I was the companion of the worst
class of men." At length he was arrested for
crime, and sentenced to the Penitentiary for two
years and six months. But, it is grateful to add,
that while paying this penalty to the law of men,
God graciously made him, as there is good reason
to hope, the possessor of spiritual freedom and life.
This occurred within a few months of his coming
here; and from that time till the expiration of
his sentence he was a most exemplary prisoner, a
diligent student of the Bible, and a cheerful Christ-
ian man. "While he naturally desired release, it
seemed to be chiefly that he might do something
to repair the moral injuries he had inflicted on
others.

Albany Penitentiary. 217

The knowledge of this change excited the most
gladdened feelings in his aged father's heart. He
said in a letter to the convict son : " I take my
pen to transmit a few lines to let you know that
although you are the son of misfortune, and have
caused me to shed many a tear, and have many
an aching heart, you are, notwithstanding, my son,
my only son. Upon you I had fixed my future
hopes. Eespecting you I had thoughts like these :
I thank God for the gift of a son. I will strive to
bring him up to honor. I will educate him and
prepare him for whatever sphere God may call
him to. But I thought, as I had but one son,
my preference, if it were allowed, would be that
after I was gone to my grave he might perpetuate
in honor my memory by going through the land,
holding up a risen Savior to a ruined world. This
is what I ask of you, and what I have asked God
to grant if it be his will. Should I realize this
before I die there will be no other earthly good I
shall desire. Then, old Simeon-like, I shall depart
in peace.

" Dear son, there is not anything which could
have given me so much joy as to hear of your
conversion. May God give you grace to stand to
the end of your life. When I read your letter I

218 Albany Penitentiary.

was overcome with. joy. I thouglit to myself, can
it be so ? Oh ! is it so ? Thank God for the return
of my only son. Now, inasmuch as you say ycu
have passed through this great moral change, strive
to let all with whom you have to do see it in your
life and conduct. Eead the word of God, and
walk by it, then you will do well, and be sure of
heaven."

Some time after his return home, where he was
lovingly received, he wrote to the Chaplain, say-
ing, I rejoice to tell you that I am still striving to
enter in at the straight gate ; and I feel, and trust,
that by the help of my Father who is in heaven
I shall yet adorn the doctrine of God my Savior,
and walk worthy of the gospel. Pray for me that
I may be led in that way which shall the more
conduce to the glory of God and the good of his
kingdom. I have experienced what you told me
about the temptations of Satan. I have found
truly that he is sometimes transformed into an
image of light. Pray for me, dear sir, that I may
take the whole armor of God; fight the good
fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life. That
in all things I may act for eternity, and become a
chosen instrument in God's hand of honoring him.
This young man has since joined the church, of

Albany Penitentiary. 219

which his father is the pastor, and continues, so
far as we know, to honor his profession.

K. Was also a prisoner sent from Washington
to the Penitentiary. He was a young man, the
oldest son of highly respectable and devotedly
pious parents. He was the child of many prayers,
and had been trained with much care. But while
in the army he yielded to temptation, and sub-
jected himself to the penalty of the law. After
he had been incarcerated about twelve months,
during which time he had been frequently ad-
dressed on the subject of personal religion, he one
day said to the Chaplain, whom he saw conversing
with a sick man. "I shall be glad to have some
conversation with you, if you please, sir, when
disengaged."

The opportunity was soon given, and in an
intelligent and decided manner he expressed the
hope that he had experienced that change which
had been so often urged upon him, and which the
scriptures designate as "bom again of the spirit."
On being asked what were the grounds of his hope,
he referred to the spiritual light which had beamed
on his mind ; to the different views he now had
of sin, of his moral state, of the Bible, of Jesus,

220 . Albany Penitentiary.

and of religious duties. He said, that notwith-
standing all he had heard and read, these subjects
were dark to him before ; but now the truths and
duties of religion were clear and attractive. He
wondered he had not seen them so before, was
astonished at his own blindness, and condemned
himself on its account. He denounced his pre-
vious impenitence and impiety ; and in answer to
the question, if he would accept of liberty was it
offered on the condition that he should live as he
had done, he said decidedly, "I would not."

This young man, some months after, was par-
doned ; and, in a letter, subsequently received, his
father spoke of him thus : " I have been intending
for some time past to write you, but a pressure of
cares and labors has prevented me until now. I
do not regret the delay, however, since it enables
me to speak with increasing confidence respecting
the change which we hope and believe has come
over my son. I have felt that the test of time,
and of actual contact with temptation, was neces-
sary to establish my confidence. He still appears
well. He has been steadily at work the whole
time since he came home. I told his employer
frankly his past history, and he seemed willing
to take him notwithstanding. He goes to work

Albany Penitentiary. 221

before breakfast and remains until eight or nine
in the evening. He stipulated for Thursday
evenings that he might attend our weekly prayer
meeting. At our last communion season, he
remained and seemed deeply interested. I did
not urge him to unite with the church, but I
think he will be inclined to do so at the next
opportunity.

"I cannot but hope that the great change has
come upon him, and that he has in all respects
begun a new life. My heart tells me that
I am not grateful enough for so great a
mercy, and yet I feel that I could not find
words sufficient to express my gratitude and

joy."

L. The following communication was received
a few months since from a young woman whose
misconduct led her to the Penitentiary, but
whose course for some time past has encouraged
the hope that she has experimentally found the
Savior. "I feel to-day that I cannot any longer
hide my feelings. I must speak of Jesus who
died to save me. Although I have turned
from him, and gone with the world, yet he

has shown himself an infinitely kind and loving

28

222 Albany Penitentiary.

friend. I remember the loving counsel of my
dear father and mother in regard to my soul,
but I despised it, and left them, and went like
the prodigal, far from them; but now I see
the end of it. Instead of being to-day a comfort
to them, I am a convict in the Albany Prison, a
poor outcast. But, dear sir, I have one hope ; it
is that there is a friend in heaven who will not
reject me, no matter how vile. On this friend I
now lean for help and support, and I know he
will hear my cry.

" The last letter I received from home, my sister
begged me to think of my soul, and reminded me
of the words of Jesus : ' Though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." " Come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest." Think of this beauti-
ful invitation the Savior gave to a wretched
sinner like me.

"I can never forget the last prayer my mother
offered for me. At the time I made such fun of it
that she had to rise from her knees and leave the
room; but now I pray God in mercy, to forgive
me. If it had not been for hearing you talk so
about the Savior, I would have been lost forever ;
but I hope that now I have found him. God

Albany Penitentiary. 223

grant I may continue so. I can say from my
heart :

" ' One there is above all others,

Well deserves the name of friend;
His is love beyond a brother's
Costly, free and knows no end.' "

224 Albany Penitentiary.

LETTERS FROM DISCHARGED PRISONERS.

The following letters addressed to the Superin-
tendent by discharged prisoners, are selected
from a large number of like character. They
show the spirit and manner of the treatment
received at the Penitentiary, and express a grate-
ful remembrance of the care and attention
experienced. They have been altered only in
their orthography and grammatical expression.

Nov. 20, 1866.
General : As I was well aware my natural
sensitiveness would not allow me to express to
you personally how grateful I am for your many
acts of kindness to me, during my confinement
in your Institution, I take this method of return-
ing you my sincere, my most heartfelt thanks, for
each and every kind word and act that has been
so overwhelmingly bestowed upon me by yourself
and family. Words are inadequate to express but
a small portion of the gratitude I feel ; for my

Albany Penitentiary. 225

imprisonment, as far as yourself and family were
concerned, was more like a residence among kind
friends, than a compulsory confinement. The
publicly expressed gratitude of my whole life
will be but a poor recompense, but as you know
it is all I have to give in exchange, I know your
heart but too well when I say that I feel it will
be accepted as a full return.

A regularly hired official might be proud to
boast of the confidence you have reposed in me ;
what then can I say in regard to your confidence
towards me, both public and private? Simply
nothing, except to reiterate to you how justly
proud I am to be the recipient of them.

That I am not insensible to the kind wishes
expressed in my behalf by Lady P., I believe you
are aware ; pray convey to her the assurances of
my deepest gratitude for the sympathy and advice
so generously bestowed upon me, and of my deter-
mination to endeavor with my whole strength to
profit by them in the future. You will no doubt
be glad to know that amid all my anxieties I
have hitherto refrained from the "cup." In fact
I have not touched a drop of whisky since I left
you, and have refused innumerable invitations to
imbibe.

226 Albany Penitentiary.

That the Almighty in his infinite mercy may
ever bless and protect yourself and family will be
the constant prayer of

Your most sincere

and devoted servant,

*
* *

Sept. 9, 1864.

General : Pardon me for this liberty I am tak-
ing in thus addressing you, whom I have never
seen ; but I have something I wish to say to you,
and fearing I was never to have the privilege of
looking into your face and telling you the great
thankfulness I feel, I can not do otherwise than
give expression to my thoughts in this way.

I am indeed living a lonely, desolate life, now
that my husband is an inmate of your prison
walls, but the thought that he is kindly treated
and cared for by those in charge, makes the
sorrow less crushing in its weight. Words are
feeble, but I assure you that had I not felt that
you all were so considerate of his extreme distress
and situation, it would be the last drop in the cup,
the last feather to weigh me down.

I thank you all ; more, I bless you. That you
will continue to cheer and encourage him in this

Albany Penitentiary. 227

awful suspense witli which he is aflflicted I am
sure. Your mission is indeed a trying and respon-
sible one ; but that he whose eye is upon one and
all, will make your crown brighter in that land of
the dim unseen where we shall all meet one day
I am certain.

Hoping God, our Father, will bless you in this,
and in all things else, I am

Yours with deepest gratitude,

*

July 2ith, 1866.

Sir : Having arrived in Concord agreeable to
your request, I now write to you. After leaving
you and going to "West Troy, I found myself
unable to travel until Monday, but liberty and
change worked in my favor, and I now feel nearly
as well as ever.

I am already tired of idleness, and wish to go
to work as soon as possible : I think that my expe-
rience with you will be a life-long lesson, and I
shall do my best to follow the Kev. Mr. Dyer's
precepts. I can trace in my past life faults that
looked at the time trivial, but now assume a serious
aspect. I feel deeply obliged to you, and to him,
for your uniform kindness ; I owe to it the good

228 Albany Penitentiary.

that is in me ; the bad is in my own evil disposi-
tion : although I suffered some, I shall ever look
back with something of pleasure, though not
unalloyed. If my future life ever makes any-
thing of me, it will be owing to my confinement
under your superintendence, and to the earnest
labors of Mr. Dyer. In conclusion, allow me to
thank you for your kindness, and that of your
ofiicers. I remain very respectfully

Your obedient servant,

*
* *

July 6, 1865.
Respected sir : With pleasure I sit down to
write you a few lines, letting you know how I got
home. I arrived safely, and thank kind heaven
I found all my family well. I acted as engineer
from , on account of an accident to the engi-
neer, whom I knew : I made five dollars by it,
which came very good at this time. General, I
thank you for your kindness to me while in your
power, and likewise when I was released. Give
my respects to Mrs. Pilsbury, and thank her for
the sjrmpathy she showed me the afternoon I was
released. Please answer if convenient ; I want to
hear from you : I hope you and all your family

Albany Penitentiary. 229

may live long and enjoy good health, and at last
scale the mount of God, and enjoy the celestial
city " where the wicked cease from troubling and
the weary are at rest." Give my love to Mr.
Dyer, the chaplain; tell him I ask his prayers
that I may grow in grace daily, and at last meet
him in that heavenly place which the good Lord
has prepared for all that love him.

August 10, 1864.

Honored sir : With the greatest pleasure and

with feelings of the deepest gratitude I sit down

to fulfill my promise to you. I arrived here safely

last evening, after a rather tiresome journey : my

coming was unexpected and took my mother by

surprise; our meeting can be much better imagined

than described. My father is not at home yet, and

I hope to take him by surprise. My sisters are

also away on a short visit, so that I shall have the

pleasure of our meeting extended. As far as I

can ascertain, the people here seem to feel very

kindly towards me, and I have no doubt that I

shall get employment in a day or two ; as soon as

I do, I will write to either yourself or sons, and

give you the full particulars. Everything that I

see and hear goes to strengthen my good resolu-
29

230 Albany Penitentiakt.

tions, and I can already see the wisdom of your
advice to me about coming home. My mother
sends her warmest thanks and best wishes to you,
Mrs. Pilsbury and your sons for your kindness to
me, and for jour influence in obtaining my
pardon.

I have the honor to remain,

Yery respectfully jours,

June 15, 1866.

Dear sir : I saw Mr. yesterday, for the first

time since his liberation from your benevolent
Institution. He has been at my office two or
three times, but absence prevented my meeting
him. He is in excellent health and spirits, and
his expressions of gratitude and respect for you
were so strong, that I deem it an act of justice to
communicate his sentiments to you, especially as
they are so entirely in accordance with my own.

Mr. says he cannot claim in a single instance

that you relaxed the usual discipline in his favor,
and of which he does not complain, but that j^our
treatment of him was so tempered with gentleness
and kind expressions of feeling and sympath}',
evinced in manner rather than words; that he

Albany Penitentiary. 231

feels he owes you a debt of gratitude, and you
will ever command his warmest respect.
I have the honor to be, respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

*

Washington, May 12th, 1865.
Dear sir : I have just received a telegram from
Charlie, dated Jersey City, May 12th, by which it
appears he left your hospitable roof yesterday the
11th, which I suppose was by virtue of an order
mailed to you from the War department on the
19th. I have the honor to tender you my sincere
regards and thanks for the fatherly care and con-
sideration bestowed upon my son, under the
unfortunate circumstances which placed him
under your charge. Your son also has a place in
my heart (the heart of a father) stamped in the
most durable colors, he has my best wishes for
a long and happy life. The Deputy Warden with
whom I had no opportunity to become well ac-
quainted, I have the authority of Charlie's testi-
mony to hold in equal esteem. I shall ever hold
in my memory the history of my son during the
past three months as the most important of any
portion of my life, for the effect upon me has been

Albany Penitentiaet.

fully equal to his sufferings ; I cannot estimate its
true value. I liope that time will restore me
much of the happiness I have lost.

Mjr Sabbath in the chapel, the sermon of the
Kev. D. Dyer, the appearance of the convicts, the
personal appearance of my crippled son amongst
them, and all the incidents connected with that
interesting hour ai-e indelibly impressed upon my
memory. I must say that I could not, under the
benign precepts of him who was then addressing
us through his minister, feel that there was an}'
difference between us, for according to the standard
of Christian purity there was " none good among
us, no, not one." May God justify us by faith,
and make us all — convicts, officials, minister and
myself — the willing subjects of his law, and the
recipients of his saving grace.

I am happy to subscribe mj^self
Your much obliged and obedient servant,

Oct. 27, 1862.
Dear sir : My brother arrived safe yesterday
morning. He desires me to write you and return
his earnest thanks for joux kindness and gentle-
manly treatment while under your care. My

Albany Penitentiary. 233

motlier requests me to state that she feels very
grateful to you for the mild and humane usage
bestowed upon her erring son ; and that she will
remember you with the kindest feelings all her
life.

My brother speaks in the highest terms of the
discipline and management of the Prison under
your care.

Again returning you the thanks of a grateful

family,

I am, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

June ^th, 1866.
Dear sir : I reached home about seven o'clock
the morning after I left you : about one hour
after my family had learnt that an order for my
release had been granted by the secretary of war.
I have no language to describe the scene which
followed my entrance once more among those who
have always been so dear to me ; you can under-
stand better than I can tell it; God grant that
you may never be called upon for a personal
realization of a like scene. For twenty-eight
months separated ignominously from all I held

234 Albany Penitentiary.

dear on earth, with a sentence hanging over me,
which cut off all reasonable hope or expectation
of ever again crossing the threshold of my home.
I tell you. General, the transition from disgrace to
the full realization of my most cherished hope, was
almost too much for me. But enough of this ; I
am with my family once more, and feel that I am
as much a man, as though I had not been stamped
as infamous by a military tribunal of summary
justice. Many of my friends have called on me,
and all express sympathy, and all treat me with
greater cordiality than ever before. As I told
you General, when I left you, I am sincerely a
better man than when I was placed under your
charge, and for this I am greatly indebted to you
and to your sons. I will tell you in what way.
When I entered your prison, I was not only broken
in health from the nature of the service in which
I had been engaged, but smarting under a sense
of the foulest ingratitude of the government, which
had paid me for my money, time and health, with
the ignominy of a ten years' sentence, which was
ruin to me, and disgrace to those whose honor was
dearer to me than life. I expected to have met
from you and your subordinates, the same heart-
less treatment I had met from other officials

Alb ANT Pexitentiary. 235

under whose charge I had been placed : I felt it
was to be a life of abject degradation or death.
I preferred the latter to your frowns and the
huxniliation I felt 3'ou would force upon me —
don't think I contemplated suicide, I mean under
such treatment I had no courage to take care of
myself — that I should have preferred death to
a life such as I expected to have been forced to
submit to. But thanks to your generous heart,
the first sight I had of your face, and the first
word you uttered to me, told me plainly you did
not regard me as the miserable thing my sentence
implied, and that so long as I observed, or mani-
fested a disposition to comply with, the discipline
of your Institution, I might expect kind treatment
instead of harshness and contempt. This gave
me courage and I at once determined to survive
mv imprisonment, if bj- cleanly and proper care
of myself I might do it. Every facility to this
end was given me, and this, together with the
peculiar cleanliness which distinguishes the Peni-
tentiary over all institutions of a like character in
the United States, and its regularity and admira-
ble discipline, enabled me to accomplish the reso-
lution I had formed. During the tweuty-two
months I was confined under your charge, I was

236 Albany Penitentiary.

not sick one hour, always clean and entirely free
from vermin. I have no recollection of ever
meeting with a frown or an unkind word from
either you or your sons. I am authorized by
each member of my family to convey to you,
your sons and Mr. Dyer their profound gratitude
for the sympathy, kindness and consideration
with which you treated me while a prisoner
under your charge. General, I speak the senti-
ments of my heart, when I tell you I feel under
lasting obligations to you and them for the condi-
tion I find myself in, after so long an imprison-
ment. Please say to the Eev. Mr. Dyer that I
also feel under great obligations to him for his
instruction and for the sympathy he expressed for
me and mine while there : I was greatly benefited
by his teachings, and still feel, as I expressed to
him, that although I protest entire innocence of
the crime with which I was charged, yet I have
no doubt, but what even that was all for the best.
I look upon the position you occupy. General,
as one involving responsibilities of no enviable
character ; and from what I have seen of your
management during the last two years — perhaps
the most eventful of your life as a Warden, I am
inclined to think you are eminently entitled to

Albany Penitentiary. 237

the enviable reputation you have, secured with the
people of the United States. I suppose this com-
mendation from me is entirely uncalled for and
out of place ; if you think so, please excuse it,
and believe it arises only from a sense of gratitude
for your kindness to me, and to the unfortunate
men in the hospital, who have come under my
observation ; and from your efforts for the comfort
of all under your charge. Please remember me

kindly to your sons.

EespectfuUy, etc.,

August 16, 1866.
Dear sir : I was an inmate of your Institution
for twenty months. I was pardoned out on the
4th of July, last, and, sir, I thank God that I was
there; for it has made a man of me. I am a
sailor ; I was in for deserting from the navy. I
led a wild and reckless life. Before I went there,
I had no respect for myself, nor any one else.
what a blessing it was I went there, for I experi-
enced the great change there, which Christ spoke
of when he said, " Ye must be born again ! " 0, sir,
the joy I felt in that place, when Jesus washed

my sins away ! 0, if all found such a blessing as
30

238 Albany Penitentiary.

I did, that go there as prisoners, they would say
with me that they never knew what happiness and
joy was till they found it in prison ! Sir, I thank
you with all my heart for your kindness to me and
all others who are under your charge. I remember
last Thanksgiving day the kind and encouraging
words you used to us. You spoke to us as a friend
and father. 0, sir, my heart was full whilst you
were addressing us ; and may God bless you, sir,
in this world and the world to come, is my prayer !
Dear sir, I find that religion is good out of pri-
son as well as in prison. I find pleasure now in
going to prayer meetings and to church, more so
than I ever found in rum mills and other places
which sailors resort to when they get on shore.
I have been to sea on a short voyage since I got
my liberty ; and now I intend to go on a long
voyage as soon as I can get a ship. I think I
shall be able to go to sea again next week. Give
my love to Mr. Dyer. Accept the love and thanks
of your humble servant.

Albany Penitentiary. 239

A VIEW OF ITS PRESENT STATE.

IFi'oin tJie 23(2 report of the State Prison.' Association of New York.]

It is now something over twenty-one years since
the buildings of this Institution were commenced,
under the superintendence of General Amos Pils-
bury, as agent of the building committee. This
was in the year 1845. In the following year,
1846, a few prisoners were received; but the
Institution was not regularly organized and opened
as a Penitentiary until 1848, when General Pils-
bury was unanimously elected by the city and
county authorities of Albany, Superintendent of
the same ; a position which he has held ever
since,^ by successive elections every three years.
Under his able and vigorous administration, the
Albany Penitentiary has attained a celebrity,
which has made it a point of attraction and study
for the whole country. "Within the last six years,
its character and objects have undergone a mate-
rial change. On the breaking out of the great

1 With tte exception of a brief period. — D.

240 Albany Penitentiary.

rebellion, in 1861, the building which had been
previously used for a Penitentiary in the city of
Washington, was required for military purposes.
Under the pressure of this necessity, the United
States government entered into an arrangement
with the Albany Pehitentiary, by which the latter
engaged to receive all the prisoners sentenced for
crimes and misdemeanors in the District of Colum-
bia, on condition of receiving the avails of their
labor and a certain stipulated amount per week for
the board of each. This arrangement has been
found mutually advantageous. The authorities at
Washington are at considerably less expense for
their convicts than when their own Penitentiary
was in operation, and the convicts themselves are
under a far better regime; while the county of
Albany enjoys the benefit of their labor, and has
a very considerable money revenue from their
board. During the progress of the rebellion, this
Penitentiary was, also, the receptacle of large
numbers of prisoners of state. It is through the
events and negotiations above recited, that a
mere local Institution has risen, in effect, to the
dignity and consideration of a United States
Prison.

General Pilsbury, who presides over its admin-

Albany Penitentiary. 241

istration, and has done so during its entire history,
commenced his career as a prison officer forty-two
years ago, and, with the exception of two brief
intervals, each less than a year in duration, his
service in that capacity has been uninterrupted
to the present time, and there is good hope that
he may complete a full half century in this im-
portant department of public labor. He was first
appointed in 1824, at the age of nineteen, as a
guard in the New Hampshire State Prison, under
his father, Moses C. Pilsbury, the Warden of that
Institution, and the most eminent prison officer of
that day. Here he immediately developed such
rare ability in the care and management of pri-
soners, that on the following year, he was raised
to the position of Deputy Warden, the second
office in the Prison, and scarcely inferior in
responsibility to the first. In this position he
served acceptably and successfully till the close of
1826, a period of two years. In 1827, the father
and son were invited to take charge of the new
State Prison then just erected at Wethersfield,
Conn., the former as Warden, and the latter as
Deputy Warden.

Mr. Pilsbury, senior, already advanced in years,
had consented to accept the Wardenship for only

242 Albany Penitentiary.

two years, for the purpose of starting the new
Prison, and getting it properly and effectively
organized. Having continued his service for a
year beyond the stipulated period, he retired in
April, 1830, and the son, then only twenty-five
years old, was unanimously chosen by the board
of directors to succeed the father as chief officer
of the Institution. This appointment, with some
misgivings on account of the youth of the candi-
date, was made chiefly on the ground of his
familiarity with the discipline of the Prison, and
his success in administering it, although at that
time he was unacquainted with its financial con-
cerns. Very soon, however, by his energy, his
industry, his rare judgment, his courage, and his
unremitted personal attention to all the duties of
his office, he demonstrated to the directors, the
legislature and the public, that his youth was no
disqualification for the responsible position to
which he had been called. His administration
not only sustained, but advanced the reputation
which had been won for the Prison by that of his
father. The discipline maintained by him, though
strict, and even rigid beyond what, in the present
advanced stage of prison reform, would wholly
meet our approbation, was nevertheless, there

Albany Penitentiary. 243

can be no doubt, in point of mildness, humanity,
and the moral elements introduced into it, a
great advance upon that practiced at the time of
which Tve speak, in all prisons established on the
Auburn plan. The distinguished commissioners
from France. De Beaumont and De Tocqueville,
who visited the Wethersfield Prison about that
time, did not hesitate, in their report to the
French government, to assign to it the first place
among American Prisons, commending it in terms
warmer than those used in reference to any other
similar Institution in the United States.

A difficulty occurring with one of the directors
soon after his appointment, resulted in Mr. Pils-
bury's removal from office in September, 1832.
Charges, to the number of a half dozen or more,
were preferred against him to the legislature. The
allegations were, on his own demand, thoroughly
investigated by a joint committee of the body, and
the investigation resulted not only in a complete
acquittal of the accused, but in furnishing additional
evidence of his fitness and capacity for the office.
So well satisfied were the legislature of Mr. Pils-
bury's innocence of the charges brought against
him, that they voted to defray all the expenses
of the defense, and appropriated S-iOO to reimburse

244 Albany Penitentiary.

him for his loss of time in conducting it. Just
nine months after his removal, that is, in June,
1833, he was reappointed to the Wardenship by
the same authority that had ejected him. But
he found the Prison in a very different state from
that in which he had left it. All discipline was
at an end. The prisoners passed and repassed, at
pleasure, from shop to shop, communicating freely
with each other. Newspapers, in which the affairs
of the Prison were discussed, were to be found in
every work shop and cell. Traffic was freely car-
ried on between officers and convicts, the latter
using for the purpose money earned by over-work.
Contractors could get little work out of the men,
except as they bribed them with pastry, fruits and
other luxuries, in direct violation of the Prison
rules. The prisoners were bold, noisy and tur-
bulent. They openly declared, and flung into
the very face of the directors, their determination
not to submit to any control, unless they were
heard in the selection of a Warden. Indeed, the
prison was on the very verge of open revolt
and rebellion.

In the midst of this state of things, Mr. Pils-
bury was reelected Warden, and directed to
resume the reins of government. The day before

Albany Penitentiary. 245

he was to enter anew upon his office, he visited
the Prison for the purpose of taking a survey of
it, and learning its condition by actual inspec-
tion. When he came on the ground and was
about to pass into the shoe shop, a kind-hearted
colored convict, who had been under him before,
came to him and desired a word in private. He
entreated him not to go into that shop, for the
men there had determined that he should not be
Warden, and had avowed the purpose of prevent-
ing it by murdering him, if that should be neces-
sary to the attainment of their object. Gen.
Pilsbury says that the prospect of presenting him-
self before men who entertained such feelings and
had expressed such a purpose was by no means
a pleasant one, but he felt that he must go then
or never. Accordingly, despite the entreaties of
the negro to the contrary, he immediately ascended
the stairs and entered the room, which contained
scores of men who had avowed that they would
have his life sooner than that he should assume
the reins of power over them. On the instant, they
gathered around him in large numbers, ,armed
with knives and hammers, and, in vociferous
tones and with menacing gestures, demanded
that he should immediately retire. He folded

246 Albany Penitentiaey.

his arms, and, standing erect and self-poised in
tlie midst of that infuriated crowd of felons, he
calmly replied : " Men, I have no authority over
you to-day ; I shall have to-morrow ; but I shall
not leave this room until every one of you has
returned to his bench and resumed his work."
He had no weapon but his dauntless courage and
the glance of his piercing eye. But they were
enough. One by one, those bold, bad men went
each to his bench and his work, and when order
was completely restored, the brave young governor
withdrew in triumph.

The task of recovering the Prison from the dis-
order and ruin into which it had fallen, both in
its discipline and its finances, was not an easy
one. On the contrary, it was attended with great
difficulties and discouragements. But the work
was achieved within a year, so that the directors, in
their next annual report, declared the Institution
to be, in all respects, in a "prosperous condition."
For a period of twelve consecutive years from the
time of his reelection, that is, from 1833 to 1845, Mr.
Pilsbury remained "Warden of the Wethersfield Pri-
son, in spite of all the adverse influences, political
and otherwise, which were, from time to time,
brought to bear uponhim with a view to his removal.

Albany Penitentiary. 247

In 1845, as already stated, Gen. Pilsbury was
called to Albany, and from that time to the pre-
sent, he has been at the head of the Penitentiary
in that city and county, with the exception of a
brief period, during which he held the position of
governor of Ward's island, and chief of police in
the city of New York. We have thought this
brief sketch of his career due to the oldest Prison
officer in the United States, and certainly one of
the oldest and most distinguished and successful
in the world. We, by no means, consider the
General's administration as perfect or incapable
of improvement, and we shall feel called upon to
criticise it, to some extent, in the present paper j
but this does not blind us to his preeminent
ability and merit in the service to which he has
given, with a rare devotion, the energies of a long,
honorable and useful life.

Prison Premises and Buildings.
These were pretty fully described in last year's
report, from which we reprint the following brief
extract: "The Penitentiary is situated about
half a mile from the Capitol, amid surroundings
far more sightly than those to which convicts are
usually accustomed. Twelve acres of ground.

248 Albany Penitentiary.

beautifully grassed, with here and there a bril-
liant plot of flowers, or a charming garden spot,
furnish the frontispiece of this illustrative book
of human depravity, and its swift following pun-
ishment. An amphitheatrical undulation of the
ground in front, as regular and symmetrical as
though formed by the forced pressure of an
immense bowl, is a remarkable addition to the
landscape, and, with the smooth and closely cut
grass covering the slope, cannot fail to impress
all visitors (whether voluntary or compulsory)
with a great admiration of the external beauty
of the Prison's location. The building itself is
of the castellated order, three hundred and fifty
feet long and seventy-five in depth, including the
wings, which latter contain the cells, the centre
being occupied for business and domestic purposes
by the Superintendent. There are few, if any,
Prisons in the state, whose outward appearance
is so imposing and attractive."

Important improvements were in progress at
the time of our visit, which are expected to be
completed and ready for use in the spring. These
improvements are, in brief, as follows : The main
centre building is to be extended forty feet in the
rear. This will double the size of the cook room

Albany Penitentiary. 249

in the basement, and add several rooms in connec-
tion, viz : a bakery, bread room, store rooms, etc.,
etc. In the principal story the guard room will
be more than doubled in size, and other rooms for
the use of the officers and the family of the Super-
intendent, will be added. In the second story the
male and female hospitals will be increased to more
than twice their present dimensions, and in other
respects so improved as greatly to add to the
facilities and conveniences for taking care of the
sick. In the third story the chapel will be so
enlarged that its dimensions will be seventy-six
feet by forty-eight and twenty-eight feet high, in
place of the present chapel, which is forty-eight
feet by thirty-six, and only twelve feet high.
The elevation of the room will be effected by
putting on a French roof When finished, we
have no hesitation in saying that the new chapel
will be the model Prison chapel of the country.

When the improvements in progress shall have
been completed, it is in contemplation to make a
considerable addition to the end of each wing, so
that there shall be a sufficient number of cells to
obviate the necessity of placing more than one
prisoner in a cell, if not in all time, at least for a
long time to come.

250 Albany Penitentiary.

The authorities have given Gen. Pilsbury carte
hlanche to add and improve ad libitum, provided
the cost of such additions and improvements does
not exceed the surplus revenues received from the
labor of the prisoners.

The drainage is good, but not perfect. The
opportunity for draining is excellent, and there is
no good reason why the point of absolute perfec-
tion should not be reached.

The number of cells exceeds three hundred;
the exact number we cannot state. They are
seven feet long, four wide, and seven high, with
open-work doors, two feet wide by six feet six
inches high. The cell-block is surrounded by a
spacious corridor. The cells are well lighted by
day, and at night sufficiently lighted by gas to
enable all the prisoners to read by sitting near
the door. The gas is kept burning full head on
till half-past seven o'clock, p. m., in winter, so that
the prisoners have about two hours for reading.

There are three modes of heating, viz : partly
by furnace, partly by steam, and partly by coal
stoves. The Prison is kept comfortable in the
coldest weather.

The ventilation is very fair, much better, to say
the least, than in most American Prisons. There

Albany Penitentiaey. 251

is a ventilating tube from each cell, terminating
in the roof. The wings are well provided with
large windows, and there are circular holes in the
wall near the floor, similar to those already de-
scribed in the Penitentiary of Monroe county.
The windows are kept open both above and
below, in winter as well as summer. This, after
all, is the best ventilation : for there is nothing
that keeps a building so pure as abundance of
fresh air direct from the heavens.

Water is supplied from the city waterworks,
and from two cisterns. There is a short time in
summer when the water is not of as good a
quality as it is during the rest of the year. The
supply is sufficient for all ordinary purposes.

There is a large bathing room for the men, con-
taining eight bath tubs. All are required to
bathe once a fortnight. Most of them regard it
as a luxury ; a few reluctate against it. In the
female ward there is a bath room with two tubs.
They are required to bathe once a week.

Tlie Prison Staff.
The Prison staff at present consists of a Super-
intendent, Deputy Superintendent, Physician,
Chaplain, Clerk, Hall Keeper, eight Overseers or

252 Albany Penitentiary.

Assistant Keepers, six Watclimen, and three
Matrons.

Government.

The supreme governing power of this Peniten-
tiary is lodged in the mayor and recorder of the
city of Albany, and the board of supervisors of
Albany county in joint meeting. Intermediate
between the supreme power just named and the
authority charged with the immediate administra-
tion of the Prison, is a board of three Inspectors.
These are appointed, one each year, by the
mayor, recorder and supervisors, in joint meeting;
two of them must be from the city, and one from
the country.

The Superintendent of the Penitentiary is
appointed by the joint board, as above explained ;
the Physician and Chaplain by the Inspectors;
and all the subordinate ofiicers by the Superin-
tendent. These hold their positions solely at his
pleasure, the absolute power of appointment and
removal being in his hands.

Beyond the functions already stated as apper-
taining to the Inspectors, they visit the Peniten-
tiary as a board, once every three months, examine
and audit the accounts of the Superintendent, and

Albany Penitentiary, 253

examine into the general condition and manage-
ment of the Institution. Individualh", they visit
the Prison at their pleasure; sometimes weekly,
sometimes monthh- ; in general, the Superintend-
ent says, not so often as he would like to have
them.

Party politics have never been a disturbing
element in the administration of this Prison.
From the very first. Gen. Pilsbury declined to
accept the position offered him. unless politics
should be excluded from any and all influence
and control o^er its government. And this
imderstandiug has been faithfully observed ever
since, by all the parties to it. As a proof, it may
be stated, that the majority of the appointing
board has been about half the time of one politi-
cal party, and half the time of the other ; and
A et Mr. Pilsburv has been eight times chosen to
the office of Superintendent by a unanimous vote.
In appointing his subordinates, the Superintend-
ent never inquires into the party creed of any one
who applies for a position in the Prison, and of
coui-se he never removes an officer on any such
ground. He knows nothing of poUtics' in the
administration of the Penitentiary. There are

officers now with him, who have served eight, ten
31

254 Albany Penitentiary.

and twelve years ; and lie always retains a good
oflficer just as long as he is willing to stay. He
avows that, without being a politician, he has his
own political views, that he holds them firmly,
and acts upon them conscientiously, in the sphere
to which they belong ; but he declares that, as a
Prison officer, he ignores the whole thing. He
attributes the success of the Institution, in great
measure, to this utter repudiation of party poli-
tics from its government and administration, and
believes that its history would have been very
different, had this influence, healthy and benefi-
cent when confined within its proper sphere, but
always pestilent and often disastrous when it
reaches beyond that sphere, been permitted to
obtain a controlling power over its afiiairs.

Discipline.
As would readily be inferred from what has
been said of Gen. Pilsbury in our sketch of his
career as a Prison officer, the discipline in the
Albany Penitentiary is strict and inflexible. In
passing through the work shops and viewing the
men at their labors, one seems to be looking at
machines rather than at human beings, so regular,
steady, uniform, and apparently almost uncon-

Albany Penitentiary. 255

scious are all their movements. Many admire
this precision, this absolute mastery of one human
will over such a multitude of others ; and, no doubt,
in themselves considered, this power and its results
are worthy of admiration ; especially when it is
considered that they are attained almost wholly
by moral agencies, as very little physical force is
employed, and not an ofl&cer in the Institution, at
least of those in immediate charge of the prison-
ers, from the head down, ever goes armed. But
the impression which the system makes upon us
is not, we are constrained to acknowledge, an
agreeable one. It is too hard, cold, unsympa-
thetic, repressive. It works against rather than
with nature, and therefore, so far as the higher
end of imprisonment, reformation, is concerned,
it must work to a disadvantage, and must conse-
quently often fail where a more kindly and
natural system would succeed. And yet General
Pilsbury possesses one of the kindest and most
tender natures we have ever met ; though this is
united with a firmness of will and a tenacity of
purpose that know neither change nor wavering.
These qualities, in combination, probably afford
the true solution of the fact that, in the earlier
stao-es of his Prison administration, his methods

256 Albany Penitent: aky.

were more considerate and humane than those
commonly adopted in Prisons on the Auburn
plan; while, in the later periods, they retain a
rigidity and rigor which have elsewhere yielded
to the growing conviction that prisoners, as they
still retain, though fallen, all the attributes of our
common humanity, must, without allowing our-
selves to give way to the impulses of a sickly and
feeble sentimentalism, be treated more like other
men, if we would win them back to goodness and
virtue.

But despite his vigor of will and firmness of
purpose, there can be no question that Gen. Pils-
bury has within the past few years, yielded not a
little, in point both of conviction and practice to
the milder ideas of the times in respect to Prison
discipline. The dietary of the Prison, by the
testimony of the Physician as well as of himself,
has been greatly improved of late, particularly in
the way of furnishing to the prisoners, a supply
of fresh vegetables in their season, whereby their
health as well as their comfort have been greatly
promoted. The Chaplain of the Institution, the
Eev. David Dyer, on whose declaration the most
implicit reliance may be placed, testifies : " In
the course of ten years, I think I can truthfully

Albant Penitentiary. 257

say that I have not heard more than a score of
prisoners utter a complaint of any kind." For a
number of years past, the General has regularly
attended the chapel services; and sometin;ies,
though rarely, on these occasions, he addresses
the prisoners in a very kind, persuasive, paternal
manner, much to their gratification and advan-
tage in many ways. He placed in the hands of
the committee a large package of letters received
from discharged prisoners, which we read with
gratification as well as interest. They all breathe
an excellent spirit, and bear testimony to the kind
care and attention bestowed upon them, during
their incarceration, by the Superintendent and
his family.

Prisoners, on their committal to the Peniten-
tiary, are not kept for any time in solitary con-
finement, but are put immediately to work,
previously to which, however, the rules of the
Institution are fully explained to them, either by
the Superintendent or his Deputy. Every man is
given distinctly to understand that the rules are
rigid, but that if he obeys, he will get along
pleasantly. Not oiily are the rules explained,
but their rectitude and necessity are set forth and
strongly impressed on every convict. As a mat-

258 Albany Penitentiary.

ter of fact, three-fourths to seven-eighths of the
prisoners do obey cheerfully and fully, and are
never subjected to punishment or admonition.

The Superintendent claims that reason, justice,
firmness, uniformity and humanity are the founda-
tion principles on which the discipline of the
Penitentiary is conducted.

The commutation law, in the main, is found to
work well. On prisoners, however, who are sen-
tenced for three years and over, it does not
operate as powerfully as upon others with briefer
sentences. They all know the amount of time
which they have earned by good conduct, and it
is very seldom, indeed, that any portion of it is
forfeited by subsequent bad conduct.

No further privileges or indulgences are allowed
on public holidays than as follows : On the day
of annual Thanksgiving, public religious services
are held, and a good dinner is provided for the
prisoners. A better dinner than usual is also
given them on the Fourth of July.

The ordinary punishment is the dark cell with
short rations, but this is seldom continued over
night. Showering is resorted to in the case of
men, the subject being always in a standing posi-
tion to receive the water. The lash is also held

Albany Penitentiary. 259

in reserve as a last resort, but it is very rarely
found necessary to use it. In all cases, punish-
ment is immediately suspended on promise of
obedience. Tobacco is given as a reward for
good conduct, and, of course, wben it is with-
drawn, it is felt as a severe privation.

All punishments are recorded.

The most common offenses are attempts to com-
municate and making noise.

The power of punishing is confined to the Su-
perintendent and his Deputy; and even the latter
never punishes without reporting the case to the
Superintendent, when he is present.

The rule of silence is very rigidly enforced in
this Prison, except where prisoners are duplicated
in the cells, which has often of late been a neces-
sity. In such cases, no attempt is made to enforce
it with strictness. Except in these cases, it is not
believed that communication between prisoners
can be carried to the point of mutual contami-
nation.

Whenever prisoners have, or conceive that they
have causes of complaint against ofl&cers (though
this is very seldom), they are always at perfect
liberty to bring their complaints to the Super-
intendent. In the investigation of such cases,

260 Albany Penitentiary.

the statements of the prisoners are always
patiently heard, and the proper weight is given
to them.

The parti-colored prison dress and lock step are
in use here. A portion of the prisoners dislike
these usages, and feel degraded by them; their
self-respect is wounded thereby ; but the majority
have no such feelings.

Almost all the prisoners from Washington are
looking for pardons, and a portion of the others
have the same hope. This hope is found to pro-
duce a restless and uneasy state of feeling in the
convicts, and interferes with their reformation.
It would be better (so thinks General Pilsbury)
for the interest of the convict, as well as for the
discipline of the Institution, if the prerogative of
pardon were more sparingly exercised. By the
governor of the state, the character and conduct
of the convict during his prison life, are inquired
into before granting a pardon ; by the president
of the United States, never.

The Warden of one of our State Prisons, after
spending a day at the Albany Penitentiary, re-
marked to the Superintendent, at its close, that
he had discovered the secret of his success. "Ah,
replied the General, "what do you conceive it to

Albany Penitentiary. 261

be?" "It is simply this," said the Warden; you
have no fear of being removed by politics, and
you do not think either of resigning or dying."
We will venture to suggest another element of
his success. It is this : he is never absent from his
post. Year after year passes away without his
sleeping away from the Prison a solitary night.
If there ever was a man thoroughly devoted
to his business, and whose whole heart and soul
were in his work, that man is Gen. Pilsbury.

Instruction — Religious and Secular.
The present incumbent in the ofl&ce of Chap-
lain to this Institution, is the Rev. David Dyer,
who also holds the position of Superintendent of
the Albany City Tract and Missionary Society.
Mr. Dyer has served the Albany Penitentiary in
the relation of Chaplain for the last eleven years.
He is a gentleman of much ability and learning,
and a minister of earnest and devoted spirit, who
enjoys in a high degree at once the respect of the
ofl&cers and the confidence and affection of the
prisoners. He is, emphatically, "the right man
in the right place," and the only thing to be
regretted is, that his time and strength are not
wholly given to his Prison work, and not only so,
32

262 Albany Penitentiary.

but that this work is made quite subordinate to
that of liis other office, to which his thoughts and
energies are mainly devoted.

Mr. Dyer at present preaches twice every Sab-
bath morning, viz., once to the men and once to
the women^ and twice a month he holds three
services. Besides these public offices, he visits at
his cell and converses with every male prisoner
once in the course of each month, devoting at
least an hour to this work every Sabbath after
public service, and as much time during the
week as may be necessary. Whenever any
female prisoners desire conversation with him,
they indicate their wish by remaining in their
seats after service. Quite a number have done
this, particularly of late. These labors (the
Chaplain reports) are uniformly received by the
prisoners, both male and female, with cheerful-
ness and gratitude.

When the new chapel is completed, it will not
be necessary to hold more than one service, as all
the prisoners can be accommodated at the same
time, which is now impossible, the women being
placed in a gallery so constructed that neither sex
will be able to see the other. This will, happily
give the Chaplain more time for pastoral labor.

Albany Penitentiary. 263

Sick prisoners are visited in the hospital, prayed
with and suitably instructed and counseled at
least once a week.

There is no Sabbath school in the Prison, nor
any daily service of prayer. Both, judiciously
conducted, would no doubt be effective instru-
ments of good ; and in this view, as the commit-
tee understand, the Chaplain himself cordially
concurs. With the operation of both, the Super-
intendent must be well acquainted from his expe-
rience as Warden in the Connecticut State Prison.
It is to be hoped, and the committee would cer-
tainly earnestly recommend, that on the comple-
tion of the new chapel a Sabbath school will be
instituted, and the voice of prayer be daily heard
by the inmates.

All the inmates of the Penitentiary are provided
with Bibles by the Albany county Bible Society.
They are also all furnished with Hymn-books.
The prisoners make much use of their copies of
the scriptures ; often express a lively interest in
their perusal ; and frequently ask questions grow-
ing out of their contents.

There is no prison choir. The Chaplain him-
self leads the singing, and the prisoners very
generally join in it. He considers the influence

264 Albany Penitentiary.

of sacred song upon these fallen men and women
highly beneficial, as tending to soften their feel-
ings, to elevate their moral tone, and so to
cooperate in the work of their reform.

Religious tracts are freely distributed among
the prisoners, not less than three thousand to four
thousand being so used every year. Of the Ameri-
can Messenger and Tract Journal, one hundred
copies are given out monthly.

Many of the convicts, Mr. Dyer thinks are
making good progress in religious knowledge, and
he firmly believes that not a year has passed
during his incumbency, in which there have not
been some cases of genuine conversion ; proof of
which, entirely satisfactory to himself, is afforded
by intercourse with them while in Prison, and by
letters from and reports of them, received after
their discharge. But even when the gospel does
not take effect to the extent of working a saving
change, he has, so he states, abundant proof that
moral reformations do continually occur. At the
same time, it cannot be disguised that that hap-
pens here, which happens in every other prison
in the United States (unless possibly the Eastern
Penitentiary at Philadelphia may be an excep-
tion), viz., that reformation is not the regnant

Albany Penitentiary. 265

object and spirit of the Institution; although, at
the same time, Mr. Dyer is quite convinced that
the aim in this respect has decidedly improved
within the last five years ; and this has been par-
ticularly the case since the Superintendent has
habitually attended the main chapel service on
Sunday morning, which has been the case during
the period named.

The general conduct of the prisoners, as far as
it falls under the notice of the Chaplain, he
reports as good, and this is especially true of their
demeanor during divine service. He says that it
is a real pleasure to preach to them, for that
every eye is fixed upon him, and every ear atten-
tive to his utterances. Conversations afterwards
held with them, show that they give their minds
to what is said by the preacher.

The Chaplain is not accustomed to have special
conversations with the prisoners, either on their
reception or their liberation, an omission much to
be regretted, but necessarily resulting from his
non-residence at the Prison. Great good might be
effected by such interviews, and it is our convic-
tion that it should be made a part of the regular
duty of all Prison Chaplains to hold them. It is
of the utmost importance that the best counsels

266 Albany Penitentiary.

should be given to convicts, both on their entrance
into, and their departure from prison.

No secular instruction is imparted to the pri-
soners here, an omission which we grieve to
record. Nevertheless, all prisoners who so desire,
are furnished with spelling books, and quite a
number, especially of the colored convicts, learn
to read, and take great pleasure in learning.

The prison library contains some seven hun-
dred volumes. Books of a general religious tone
and character predominate; next comes history,
biography, etc. There are a few scientific books.
The privilege of the library is greatly prized,
and the books are much read. The books are
exchanged every Sabbath morning. The prisoners
have considerable time for reading, viz., an hour
at noon, except what time they are eating, from
six to half-past seven in the evening, and all day
Sundays. The Chaplain regards the library as an
excellent aid to other reformatory agencies, but
thinks, and in this opinion we concur with him,
that it will not do as a substitute for them, and
particularly not as a substitute for the labors of a
Prison Chaplain.

We repeat the conviction, strongly felt by the
Prison Association, and expressed in former

Albany Penitentiary. 267

reports, that this Prison should have the full ser-
vices of a resident Chaplain. General Pilsbury
himself is of the same opinion, but he is husband-
ing the resources of the Institution for the pur-
pose of completing the important, and we admit,
much needed improvements mentioned as in con-
templation in a previous part of this report. We
can appreciate this feeling on the part of the
worthy General, but we cannot agree that the
important objects to be gained by the appointment
of a full Chaplain should be postponed to any
such considerations, and we earnestly trust that
the purpose expressed by him to the committee of
acting in accordance with his own conviction, as
well as ours, may not be long delayed.

APPENDIX

The following letter referred to on page 105, was
written by General Pilsbury, on resigning the Super-
intendence of the Metropolitan Police.

Ofpioe op the Superintendent of Police, ")

No. 413 Broome street, New York, Feb. 23, 1860. j

To the Hon. the Board of Police Commissioners :

Gentlemen : In May last your board saw fit to confer
upon me the office of General Superintendent. This
was a surprise to me, and I did not conclude to accept
the position without mature deliberation and frank
consultation with the Commissioners, then, as now
(with a single exception), composing the board. My
experience in executive duties had taught me that a
department lijse the police could not be effectively
governed otherwise than by a single and controlling
head ; and, as a preliminary to any consideration of the
matter, I stipulated that I should be invested with " all
power consistent with law." Had any dissent been
expressed at that time, from the bestowal of such power
upon me, I would have relinquished all idea of under-
taking the heavy responsibilities with which you pro-
posed to clothe me. But as the declaration of one of
your number (Mr. Bowen), at an informal interview
held on the day subsequent to the election, that " you
33

270 Appendix.

would load me down with power," seemed to meet
with entire acquiescence from his associates, I regarded
that point as definitely settled. Still I took the pre-
caution to embody that condition in my final letter of
acceptance, that your records might show that I had
not consented to take charge of so important a branch
of the public service, without such assurances of confi-
dence and support, on your part, as would enable me
to act according to the dictates of my best judgment,
in promoting the discipline and efficiency of the force.
It was at the urgent solicitation of members of your
board, and of other citizens of the highest respectability,
that I, after several weeks' deliberation, sent in my letter
of acceptance, and I was much surprised at finding the
two members of your board (Messrs. Bowen and Stra-
nahan) who, more than any others, had urged my
acceptance, and made the most liberal promises of sup-
port, then objecting to that part of my letter which
stated the conditions of my acceptance. I had then
resigned my previous position, and made all my
arrangements to take charge of the police department,
and as the board, by a vote of five to two, sustained my
views, I felt that I could not recede. I regarded the
action of a majority of the board as a pledge that I
should not be trammeled by its interference with nay
plans for the government of the department, so long
as I faithfully discharged my duties and adhered to
the letter and spiiit of the law. From the day upon
which I sent in my letter of acceptance to the present
time, I have not received from the two members of
your board already mentioned, either advice, encou-
ragement, or support, and I had hardly been in the
service long enough to acquire a famiUarity with its
duties and requirements, when I felt myself seriously

Appendix. 271

embarrassed by my want of power to make such dis-
posal of members of the force as the exigencies of
circumstances demanded. In one instance I had, for
misconduct, sent back from detail to ward duty, an
officer who was subsequently convicted and sentenced
to be reprimanded for the offense, but I had no sooner
returned him to post service than ward politicians,
whose services he had been engaged in, besieged me
with importunities to rescind my order. I peremp-
torily refused, and they then appealed to the president,
who yielded, and proposed that their demands should
be complied with. To have surrendered the point
would have been to give up the administration of
the department to the pressure of outside personal
or political influences, consequently I i^emained firm,
though by so doing I was obliged, much to my i-egret,
to take issue with the president. Upon the advent of
the new mayor, he claimed the right to select the men
who should do duty at the twenty-sixth precinct. I
expressed a willingness to extend all due courtesy to
that officer, but I could not, without sacrificing my
self-respect, virtually surrender to him the control of a
considerable detachment of my command. It would
have been sanctioning a dangerous precedent, to assent
to a rule that every incoming mayor should be permitted
to use the police department to reward such of its
members as were his personal or political friends and
supporters, by assigning them to favorite places, or to
punish those to whom he had a disUke, by removing
them from posts of duty for which experience had spe-
cially qualified them. Accordingly I decUned to com-
ply with the mayor's sweeping requisition. Forthwith
he appealed to the board, and the result was the adop-
tion of the resolution of January 16th, transferring an

272 Appekdix.

important part of the executive power of the General
Superintendent to a committee of the board. No
charge had been preferred against me that I had
abused the confidence of the board, or acted without
exclusive reference to the real interest of the depart-
ment. It can not be truthfully said that I have in a
single instance been governed by personal or political
influences. For any dereliction of duty, I am subject
to trial and dismissal, and therefore there was no
necessity for adopting any indirect method of visiting
censure and reproach upon me. Since the power
taken from me has been exercised by a committee of
your board, men who were removed by me for cause
have been restored to detailed positions; men have
been taken from wards where, in my judgment, they
were needed, and placed in precincts where they were
already as many men as were required. Some have
been taken from positions for which their knowledge
and past experience peculiarly fitted them, to make
room for men whose chief claim seemed to be their
personal or political relations and services. Under
these circuni stances I can not but regard the course
you have pursued as indicative of a purpose to wound
my self-respect,, by placing me in the embarrassing
position of being responsible for the proper govern-
ment and efficiency of the police force, without pos-
sessing the authority that is indispensable to enable me
to accomplish these objects. When the resolutions to
which I have referred were adopted, my impulses
led me to tender at once my resignation ; but, apart
from the objection that such a course might be deemed
hasty and inconsiderate, I thought jiroper to await such
farther action as your board might take when its num-
ber was full. Being now satisfied that I can not, by a

Appendix. 273

longer continuance in this office, be as serviceable to
the public as will be expected, nor command the
proper respect of the force under my charge, nor pre-
serve its discipline and good order, unless I am its actual
as well as its nominal head, a just regard for my own
reputation leaves me no other alternative than to tender
to you, as I now do, my resignation of the office of
General Superintendent.

Very respectfully, yours,

AMOS PILSBUBT.

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